by Jus Accardo
Worked like a damn charm, too.
“Daddy sends his love,” Able whispered in my ear. He smelled like Mountain Dew, and I had to force myself not to puke. Mountain Dew was the worst smell ever. Even worse than burnt popcorn.
“Maybe you’d like to send yours?” With each word, his breath disturbed my hair, strands fluttering back and forth to tickle my skin as he held me secure.
As if responding to his closeness, my shoulder began to throb, hammering an uneven rhythm of pain that sent pangs throughout my entire body. The sudden increase messed with my equilibrium and made my heart pump a little faster.
While I didn’t have a license in badass like Kale did, I wasn’t exactly helpless. I sucked in a lungful of air and stomped back, grinding the heel of my foot into the top of Able’s. It didn’t do crap to hurt him—he was wearing thick boots, and I was barefoot—but he did stop to laugh at me. And that was his mistake. While he was busy snorting over my pathetic attempt at freedom, I flung myself forward and threw him off balance. His grip loosened just enough for me to slip free and bolt across the room in Kale’s direction.
Kale was a tornado, spinning through the room and taking out everything in his path. Deadly to confront but too amazing to take your eyes off. Even one of the agents had stopped to stare.
When the last guy went down, Kale crossed the room to where Jade was still playing dead. I wanted so badly to call her out, but now wasn’t the time.
Heaving her over his shoulder, Kale nodded to the doorway. “We need to find the others.”
No arguments from me. The less time we spent hanging here in the dark with piles of Denazen trash scattered at our feet, the better. I glanced over my shoulder. Able was long gone.
We snaked back through the lobby and into the hallway around Rosie’s desk. Through the door and into the stairwell. Everything was silent.
“We can’t search the whole place with Little Miss Sunshine slung over your shoulder,” I whispered. Leaning over the railing, I lifted my head and listened. You could have heard a feather hit the ground. Not a good sign—and creepy to boot.
There were Denazen men in the building. There should have been sounds of struggle. Of fighting. Could they have gotten everyone out already? Nightmare images of Denazen suits marching Sixes out the back door to waiting vans made me shudder.
I held my breath and listened harder. When all that came was eerie silence, I pushed off the railing and turned back to Kale. He was setting Jade down on the landing, taking care not to slam her head against the wall.
“I could slap her a few times.” I said, wiggling my fingers. Half joking. Okay. Less than half. “Try to wake her up?”
He got down on his knee, bending close to her face. For an insane, drawn-out moment, it almost looked like he was about to kiss her. I didn’t know whether to scream or cry. My Prince Charming off to wake up some other princess.
“I think she’s waking up,” he said.
I folded my arms and leaned back against the wall. “Maybe ’cause she was never asleep to begin with?”
Liquid chocolate eyes fringed by annoyingly long lashes fluttered open. Her head listed sideways just enough for several springy curls to fall across her cheek. “Wha—what happened?”
“You ran away to save your own ass, remember? Didn’t make it very far. Then you got captured.”
I swear to God, Kale rolled his eyes and sighed. He stood and held his hand out to help her up. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
I pushed him aside. “I’m betting it was the phone call telling Dad to send in the second wave.”
She did her best impression of surprised, but I wasn’t buying it. “What are you babbling about?”
“This place is locked down tighter than a nun’s chastity belt. No way is someone getting inside without help.”
Her eyes went wide. She took a step toward me. “Are you’re trying to say you think it was me? I wasn’t even here! I was with you.”
For a split second I might have believed her. That whole wide-eyed, but I’m innocent routine could’ve been pretty convincing, except I knew better. Had some insider information. Something Dad said at the post office echoed in my head.
“Has anyone survived?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. One. A very unique girl with a gift I think you’d find very appealing. Especially in your current situation.”
Jade was a spy for Dad. And not just any spy. She was the Supremacy survivor. Now that it’d all come together, it made total sense. Her invincibility. The immunity to Kale. Dad saying I’d find her gift appealing. So her plan was what? To charm Kale’s ass off, then deliver him right to Dad? Such a girl move! Seduce and conquer. I didn’t know if that made the way she was drooling all over him better—or worse.
I matched her step, fists tight. “I’m not trying to say anything. It was you. You’re Supremacy.”
“Supremacy? Is that some kind of lame-o skater slang?” She shoved me. “Like I said, I wasn’t here. I was with Kale.”
“You set it up before the dance, then.”
“You’re a piece of work, you know that? You think flinging crazy accusations is going to get rid of me? You’re the only one who believes this crap!”
Kale tapped me on the arm. “Dez…”
“Just because I’m the only one willing to see it doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I know who you are.”
“Jade…” Kale tried again. From the corner of my eye, I saw him looking up into the stairwell. For once, Jade didn’t hang on every syllable like a groupie.
“Who I am?” she squealed. “Yeah. I’m the girl who’s tired of your shit. It never occurred to you that someone else is leaking information? That maybe one of your buddies is a traitor? Are you really that insecure that you need to pin this on me?”
Insecure? Fingers stiff, I let loose. I did her a favor, though. Something I’d never done before. I slapped her. I’d kicked, bitten, kneed, hell, I’d even head-butted, but slapped? No way. Too much of a girl move.
She didn’t as much as flinch.
Oops. Invincible.
“Bitch!” she snarled, letting her own fist fly. The blow struck my left shoulder, and, as a scream split my lips, I went toppling backward. In that moment, I actually wished I was dead. The spasm that spread from the impact point and out through my limbs was agony. Involuntary tears stung the corners of my eyes as I dragged myself up.
It was useless, but I would have lunged for her if not for the insane giggle that filled the stairway. We all turned at the same time. At the top of the stairs, coming down one step at a time, was Fin.
I’d seen some crazy shit since my life had detoured onto the path of The Surreal Life, but this took the cake. With every step, Fin left behind a smoking, charred patch. Tufts of gray drifted from his feet, which were bare, and the linoleum surrounding him on either side shriveled and shrank away.
He caught me looking and giggled again. “Checking out my tippy toes? Shoes have no love for me now. The air bites and bitches and bleeds until they run away screaming.” Hopping down from the last step, he did a little twirl, ending with an elaborate shimmy. He tapped the side of his head, hopped forward, and said, “Boomboomboom! It’s a mess in here. All fire and brimstone and creepy-crawly critters fighting to take a big bite.”
“Jesus, Fin…” Obviously he’d passed the showing signs stage and had entered the all-out crazies. I knew we should be running, but my limbs just wouldn’t respond. I was transfixed by the sight of him. Was this going to be me? Lost in a haze of power and insanity?
Was this where Layne Phillips had been heading? A small, sick part of me wondered if Denazen had done her a favor. If there was no cure once it got to this point, it would be cruel to leave it alone. Right?
“Jesus doesn’t buy crackers, Dez. He doesn’t even shop. You should know that. You of all people, with your weird hair and creamy skin. I’m where the hotspot is now. Take a bite of immortality and chew it up good.” Fin lifted his right hand a
nd waved it in our general direction. Tiny flames sprang to life, swirling up and twirling into a tight ball. With a flick of his finger, he sent it rocketing at us, scattering us apart.
Kale shouldered me aside, and Jade dove to the left. “Get down!”
The smell of acrid smoke and burning hair filled the small space. Jade screamed and swatted frantically at the strap of her dress. A tiny flame puffed out.
Fin giggled again and advanced several steps. “I used to want to nail you, Dez—now I think I’d rather watch you burn in the pretty, pretty fire.” He stopped midstride and stomped his foot, hysterical laughter bubbling from his lips. “You’re so hot, after all!”
From the middle of the landing where he stood, a brilliant light began to form. It flickered between his open palms and pulsed with a life of its own as it increased in size. We were at least four feet from him, and the building heat was enough to make me squirm.
“I have a present for you, Dez. It’s gonna burn your britches and swallow you whole.” He held the blazing ball out. “Nine lives won’t save you this time, bitch, but you’ll look pretty with charred edges!”
What would that blazing ball do to us if we were still here when he let go of it?
Kale dragged me by the sleeve of my dress, his other hand clasped in Jade’s. We crossed the threshold of the stairwell door as the fireball touched down. The ground convulsed, and the wall behind us exploded. No time to look. Down the hall and around the corner. Into the lobby. Another boom, and a definite rise in the air’s temperature. Shattering glass and a deafening roar. Then, for a few minutes, silence. Like someone had slammed the mute button but left the movie playing.
Five steps forward, and the floor shook again, sending us all off balance. The pressure of Kale’s fingers around my arm was gone. I thrust my hands into the smoke to find him, but it was pointless. I was alone.
Like the fire safety movies they show you in grade school instructed, I dropped to my knees and followed the wall to what I hoped was the nearest exit. Several feet later, I rounded the corner of the lobby.
The smoke was everywhere, stealing all the good air away and replacing it with a foul, burning cloud. In the far corner, the edges of Rosie’s desk were burning. The stacks of paper she kept so meticulously stacked and organized shriveled, bursting into mini infernos and creeping closer to the coffee pot she kept on her desk. There was a pop, the first sound since the explosion, and the glass pot shattered.
“Kale?” I screamed, but the word didn’t quite make it past my lips. Coughing. There was too much coughing. Continuous spasms as my body shook and rebelled against the pungent air. For some reason, it brought the memory of my first drink to mind. The skin-searing burn as the alcohol slid down my throat. It’d been like swallowing sandpaper. A shot of Goldschläger at a warehouse rave. It was right before Alex and I became official. He’d dared me to do it, saying there was no way I could handle it. I’d never been one to walk away from a dare.
Lost in the thick smoke in front of me, a girl screamed. Another voice—Kale’s—I was sure of it, called out my name, but he was too far. Impossible to find.
Instinctively, I tried to take a deep breath. Major mistake. It resulted in another, more violent round of body-shaking coughs. My eyes stung, and my chest ached. Burning to death. Was there a worse way to die? I couldn’t go out like this. It was weak.
Pathetic.
Hell, no.
I braced my hands against the wall and used it to pull myself upright, refusing to give up. Off the ground and running. The door. I was in the middle of the room. Safety was only a few feet away. I could find it with my eyes closed. What was a little smoke? Behind me, the flames roared, consuming everything. Like fiery parasites, they ate through anything in their path.
Gone. It was all just gone. Swallowed by gray.
Someone screamed. Just a garbled sound that was neither male nor female. Something cool wrapped around my upper arms, and I was moving again. Faster. Straighter. Out past the broken glass doors and into the night air.
The clean night air.
“Take it easy, miss,” a voice I didn’t recognize soothed. “Don’t take panicked breaths. Nice and easy. That’s it.”
It took several attempts for the fire in my lungs to lessen. Deep, measured breaths slowly replaced the bad air with good.
“Dez!” Kale skidded to a stop in front of me. He went to reach for me, but Jade, always frigging in the way, batted his hand aside.
At least he had the intelligence to glare at her for it this time.
“Are you okay?”
I tried to answer, but the burning in my throat stopped me, so I just nodded.
Behind him, Ginger, Kiernan, Alex, and a small group of others watched as the firefighters battled the blaze destroying our home. I was glad Daun left. Would she have gotten stuck inside? How many didn’t make it out? There were still so many faces unaccounted for.
So many unaccounted for…
Oh, God.
I scanned the crowd again.
She wasn’t here.
“Mom!”
25
I was almost back to the building when one of the firefighters tackled me. Spinning me back toward the crowd, he said, “Is that who you’re lookin’ for, kid?”
Frantic and running straight for us was Mom.
We collided halfway. Her arms wound so tight, it made the smoke seem like easy breathing, but I didn’t care. She was okay. I was okay. We hadn’t lost each other.
We rejoined the crowd and watched in mournful silence. The Sanctuary hotel was nothing more than smoldering ash and hazy plumes of gray smoke by the time the firemen were done. Two bodies were pulled from the wreckage. Rosie and another woman whose name I didn’t remember. I’d seen her around. She could shift into a tiger.
Four people were still unaccounted for. The firefighters assured us there was no one left inside the building, saying that in cases like these, people panic and run and usually resurface later. We knew better. They wouldn’t resurface. They’d been taken by Denazen.
“It was Fin. Had to be,” Mom said as she settled behind me.
The fire trucks were pulling out, and Ginger was in the process of arranging everyone a temporary place to stay till we could get things sorted out.
“It was,” I whispered, remembering the look on his face. He was completely unglued. Far past gone. They’d retire him soon, if he even made it out of the building alive. There was nothing I could do to help him.
“How do you know?” Mom blinked and backed away a bit. “And why is your hair green?”
I ignored the hair question—I really had no idea what to say—and focused on Fin. “We saw him. He’s—”
“Dez?” Kale came up beside Mom.
One look at his face, and she beat a hasty retreat in an obvious attempt to give us some privacy.
“You let go of me. Inside. I lost you.”
I took a small step back. “Technically, you let go of me.”
He was looking at me funny. Not angry, and not sad, but somewhere in between. “Did you hurt your shoulder?”
“No?”
“You’re rubbing it.”
I froze. “Itchy. Where’s your shadow?”
He ignored the question. Expression sad, he said, “You can’t touch me like you used to. But you can still talk to me.” He took a step closer. “I need you to talk to me, Dez.”
I couldn’t breathe. Every inch of me wanted to come clean. “Kale…”
“Something is wrong. With you. I don’t understand why you won’t tell me. You’re hiding something.”
But I couldn’t. It would only make things worse. “I—sometimes there’s just stuff people can’t tell each other.”
He folded his arms, not the least bit dissuaded. “We’re a team. You and me. Everything together. That’s what you said. You have to tell me. That’s how it works.”
“This is—” I scanned the crowd and found Jade standing by one of the ambulances. S
he was staring at us, lips twisted and expression angry. I could see the hate in her eyes. Hate my father had been able to easily manipulate. Hate that had destroyed the hotel and killed our friends. Had killed Rosie… It was easy to see she wanted to storm over and break up our conversation, but the EMT fussing over her refused to let her move from the tailgate.
I needed to distract him. “I know you think Jade is a good person and that you like her, but she’s a bad person, Kale.” I pointed to the remains of the hotel. “This is her fault. I know it. And I’m not just saying that because she wants to steal my boyfriend.”
…
“How ya doin’?” Kiernan plopped down on the floor next to me.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked around. Ginger had gone with me, Kiernan, and Mom to her friend Meela’s house. Mom and Ginger took the spare bedroom while Kiernan and I were bunking in the living room. “I’m a little freaked. Fin was…”
“That’s the guy you used to go to school with, right? Kale told me what happened when you were talking to your mom. It was that bad?”
“It was way bad.” I peeked at her through a curtain of hair. “As if I don’t have enough to worry about with Jade skulking around, seeing the possible crazy that’s my future is a little unsettling…”
Picking up her borrowed pillow, Kiernan sighed. “I could kick Jade’s ass for you. Would that help?”
I forced a laugh. “I think that’s something I’d like to do for myself. But first, I need to find proof that she was responsible for letting Denazen in to the hotel. Kale needs proof.”
Kiernan frowned. “Dez, I hate the girl. You know that, right? But she was at the dance with us.”
“It was all a setup.”
“No offense, but I think you’re reaching. You want it to be her, but hon…I don’t think it is.”
“It is,” I insisted. “It all fits. She was the only one who knew I was going to the post office.”
“Dez, I knew, too. You called me, remember?”
