“You two and all the other non-fae in GASP need to keep an eye on your fae loved ones,” I murmured. “Your family members and close friends, in particular. I know it’s not what you want to hear right now, but, like I said, my instincts are never wrong.”
“What are you talking about, Lumi?” Sofia asked. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
“No. Not really. It’s just… anger can be a dangerous emotion to carry around in these volatile times, if you know what I mean,” I replied. “You saw Vita just now. Grace isn’t well, either. Ben is barely holding it together. And I’m pretty sure they’re not the only ones with issues. I’m going to Cerix, but I’ve left clear instructions with Kale and my apprentices, if you need a swamp witch’s help. Even so, there’s only so much we can do, and your fae family members need you now, more than ever.”
Derek sighed deeply. “I know what you mean. I get it.”
“They’re on edge. They feel wronged. Do what you can to make them feel loved and at home, no matter what sort of news comes from the In-Between,” I said.
“We’ll handle our side,” Sofia replied. “You do your thing, Lumi. And remember, you have our full support in any of your endeavors. We trust your judgment more than you might think,” she said that with a soft smile, and it made my heart melt.
I hadn’t fully recovered from my Nerakian experience. It would take years to wash away the shame, the pain, and the anger of what I’d been through at the hands of Exiled Maras and power-hungry daemons. I was the poster child for PTSD, according to Phoenix—and I could certainly understand why. I carried a darkness inside me. But my reflexes were sharper than ever. There were smells and sounds that put me on edge. Sometimes, my nights were sleepless, and, when I did manage to drift off, the nightmares took hold, and I wound up screaming myself awake.
I was damaged goods, but the Word’s influence kept me afloat. Kailani and my apprentices added more purpose to my existence, on top of the many opportunities that GASP had already given me. I’d been so busy, and had been experiencing such wonderful feelings of fulfillment, that I didn’t even pay as much attention to my inner wounds.
In return for all the help they’d given me, the least I could do was to fight tooth and nail against any and all enemies of GASP. And fight I most certainly would.
Inalia
My head felt heavy, as if it had been filled with rocks and dropped on the bottom of the river. My limbs were numb, but my fingers and toes burned so hot that it was becoming increasingly difficult to lie still. Why was I lying down, anyway?
“Wait… Where am I?” I mumbled.
My voice was low and hoarse. I must’ve swallowed a bucket of nails; otherwise, I couldn’t explain why my throat was so rough. I smelled old wood and lacquer—the expensive kind that Silvergate nobles had their craftsmen use on the furniture to make it look good, even after a hundred years of usage. It tickled my nose, along with a vague scent of anguria, an aromatic plant we used for pretty much everything from essential oils to creams and washing liquids. It was a familiar aroma, one that made me smile a little, until I remembered I had no idea where I was.
My eyes peeled open, and the warm light of a ceiling lamp met them. I recognized the colored glass pattern that was part of its design. Definitely a posh place, this was.
I managed to turn my head to the side, realizing I was in a bed—a soft one, with lots of pillows. The room wasn’t big, and its ceiling was angled. “An attic?”
It didn’t take long for the panic to set in, as I remembered my last conscious moments prior to the slumber from which I’d just awakened. I was with Eira. We were waiting for Taeral to come back. I was in… Crap, I was in jail.
Nalyon Martell’s face—nay, his disgustingly smug sneer, in particular—had popped into frame. It was followed by a hiss, then a nauseatingly sweet scent. A gas. They’d gassed me into unconsciousness!
I sprang into a sitting position, then instantly regretted it. My head wasn’t just heavy. It hurt like a thousand hammers pounding into it at once. “Ouch… Son of a… Martell, you sniveling weasel!”
I glanced around my room again, allowing the image to come back into focus. Aside from my bed and a chest of drawers, there wasn’t much to look at. A floor mirror with a bronze frame in desperate need of cleaning and polishing. A few broken lamps, dusty wooden crates, and rolled up carpets—home to thousands of creepy, long-legged insects, for sure. My skin prickled at the thought of it.
“Yuck…” I whispered, managing to shift my position so that my feet touched the floor.
My boots were still on, as was the rest of my Foreign Outreach uniform. My full and long red hair was a mess, and my movements were sluggish. “He knocked me out with gas. I can’t believe it…”
I was talking to myself—not because I had lost my mind. Not at all. I needed to hear my own voice for a little bit of comfort. It was the only sound that made sense in the soul-crushing silence around me.
Slowly but surely, I stood. My knees were weak, but the sensation would pass. I went to one of the windows first. It was still night outside. And there were metal bars preventing me from a simple escape. From what I could see, thanks to partial illumination by street lamps, we were in a residential area, most likely on the north side of town. An affluent neighborhood, with little to no crime.
“So, who puts bars on their windows, then?”
Heat spread through me. I knew the sensation well. It always came with fear and panic, both my faithful companions at this point. My fire was difficult to control in such circumstances, so I had to get myself out of here before I burned the whole place down. I had no precision in anything I would attempt with my fire abilities. Simply put, if I so much as tried to melt the bars off the window, I risked blowing the entire attic up. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know who else was in the house. Fire would spread rapidly.
There had to be another way.
Glancing over my shoulder, I found it. Simple and straightforward, because I was a member of the Foreign Outreach department, and I deserved a fair hearing and trial, dammit! I’d done nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing. Nalyon Martell had no right to keep me here!
I banged on the door.
“Hello! You’re holding me illegally here! Hello! Open the door! Let me out!” I shouted, my lungs more than willing to do my bidding.
There was no answer, but I did hear the faint sound of footsteps, so I intensified my door-pounding. “Hello! Anybody?! Come on, let me out! I’m an ambassador for the Foreign Outreach Department! I answer to the high chancellor, and he will not be happy to hear that you’re holding me here against my will!”
My bellowing didn’t seem to get anyone’s attention. So I snapped and screamed as if my skin were being peeled off, inch by inch. I kept hitting the door, too, with fists and boots, this time.
Seconds or maybe minutes passed before I heard the click in the lock, followed by the door swinging open. Nalyon Martell came in, and I instinctively stepped back, not wanting to be anywhere near him. I feared his mere presence might make me retch—I hated the guy. If I’d found him insufferable earlier, even from the beginning of my career, I downright loathed the bastard now for what he’d done to me.
“This is against the law!” I croaked. “You will get arrested for this. You’ll lose your titles, too!”
Nalyon sneered, and bile rose up to my throat. “Oh, Inalia. So sweet and innocent. So ignorant. And stupid,” he said, his grin fading.
Behind him, two Armed Forces soldiers stood in the hallway. They had several weapons on them—each perfectly capable of killing me if I tried to force my way out. But would Nalyon Martell have me killed? My survival instinct was at odds with the simmering anger bubbling its way to the surface.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, my teeth gritting.
It took an incredible amount of self-control not to punch his lights out.
“I know what you are, Inalia,” Nalyon said.
I broke into a
cold sweat. How could he?
“What… What do you mean?” I asked, though my voice trembled.
“You’re a Hermessi child, Inalia. Please, don’t take me for a fool.”
A moment passed in deafening silence. This was wholly unexpected, and it scared the crap out of me. How did he find out? Who’d told him? Perhaps… Eira’s soldiers from the temple? At least one of them had been conscious and a witness to my fiery outburst. It had to be that guy. But Eira had demanded his silence on the matter.
“I didn’t know you were one, though, until earlier today,” Nalyon added. “I’ve known about the existence of such children for quite a while, now. It turns out, our elemental beings had a thing for Cerixians. It goes back millennia, too. I didn’t really believe the rumors, mere whispers in the outer domains, until a couple of eyewitness accounts from Hadeen. So, I got to reading through some of the lore. It’s my understanding that when a Hermessi possesses a body, it becomes that body in full, thus making reproduction possible by altering the DNA of the host. All this has made creatures like you possible. You, a Hermessi child,” he said, smiling with a little too much satisfaction for my taste.
“What’s a Hermessi child?” I asked, playing one last card of ignorance. Maybe he was bluffing. Maybe he was just winging it.
But if he was, why would he have picked me? He had to know something, didn’t he?
Had Eira told him? How foolish would that have been on her part, since she, too, was a Hermessi child? None of this made sense.
“I told you not to insult my intelligence, Inalia. You know what you are. And you were seen at the temple using your abilities.”
Then it had to have been one of Eira’s soldiers, breaking his promise not to tell anyone. “Okay, so what?” I asked, crossing my arms.
He chuckled. “Oh, honey. You have no idea what power resides inside you. The raw energy of an elemental! Enough to fuel an entire planet! To fire up all the battleships! To sustain the entire Cerixian economy!”
“You’re not making much sense.”
“No, you’re not seeing the bigger picture, Inalia. Your sacrifice will yield entire generations of prosperity and might! And I will secure a higher position within the empire, thanks to you. Riches for my entire family. Noble titles and properties! I will go down in history as the remarkable Cerixian that I am!”
I moved farther back, unable to believe my ears. He’d thought about this a lot, it seemed. He’d considered the benefits, but one thing wasn’t clear yet. “What do you mean by my sacrifice? What sacrifice?” I asked.
“Inalia. You will become a living battery. You’ll fuel the entire Cerixian Empire with your inner fire. You’re too dangerous and unhinged to be left on your own. That power inside you must be put to good use, and we’ve got the magic and technology needed to harness your energy to feed the entire planet!”
“Oh, for the love of… Have you lost your damn mind, Nalyon?” I replied, raising my voice. “I’m a Cerixian, a citizen with full rights and autonomy. I’m a living, breathing creature. A servant of this empire. Not a battery! What in the world is wrong with you?!”
“I know. You and other naysayers in my close circles have said the same. But you’re all feeble and shortsighted. You don’t understand what’s at stake. You’ll be a source of fire and light for the empire you claim to serve, Inalia. There is no greater honor.”
I shook my head. “When the emperor hears about this madness he’ll—”
“He’ll do nothing! When he sees my plan in action, when he understands how much happiness and comfort I’ve secured for entire generations of Cerixians, he’ll have no choice but to grant me my place in history, with all the honors and monetary rewards! I’m an intrepid Cerixian, Inalia. An innovator! And I will have my glory, whether you like it or not!”
I caved in. I couldn’t let him do this.
Without thinking about repercussions, I raised my hands to each side, palms open toward him. I let the fire brimming through me make its way through my arms. My veins lit up, as if liquid light poured through them. For the first time in my life, I relinquished the fear of losing control, and I allowed the flames inside me to take over and do something.
Because something had to be done.
This was my life he was taking. My freedom. My wellbeing.
Something whizzed through the room. A sting in my shoulder made me hiss. I looked down and noticed the dart, its red-and-yellow tailfeathers ruffled and bright—as bright as the stars stretching over my eyes.
“Oh, no…” I heard myself say, though I couldn’t feel my lips moving anymore.
“Inalia, I’ve taken all possible precautions to make sure you won’t get away,” Nalyon replied, his tone calm and annoyingly even. “I’ve been looking for a Hermessi child for years. Little did I know I had one right under my nose! And now that I have you… well, I won’t let you go.”
“You bastard,” I managed.
The room tilted around me as my body hit the floor with a soul-crushing thud. I couldn’t feel a thing anymore. I wasn’t even sure I was still breathing. My eyelids got heavier with every second that went by. On the inside, I screamed. I cried. I prayed to all the gods and all the Hermessi in the whole universe to come and save me.
But on the outside, I was a rag doll, at the mercy of Nalyon Martell.
A fleeting thought crossed my mind. Was I the only one he knew about? Or did he have Eira in his crosshairs, too? Chances were, she’d be in danger, and… I couldn’t do a thing to help her. I remembered her protests as I passed out in the jail cell. She’d tried to protect me, but she couldn’t do a thing. Not when Nalyon Martell was so keen to destroy my life purely for profit and glory.
“I do this for immortality, Inalia,” Nalyon’s voice echoed at the top of my head. “We don’t live long, and we must do something worthwhile. Each of us must be remembered, but few ever do something about it. I plan to take my place in history, Inalia. When people in the future look at our precious lights and high-powered ships, they’ll think of me, of Nalyon Martell… the Cerixian who made this extraordinary progress possible.”
Nalyon Martell was in for a rude awakening, because there was no way in hell I’d let him do this to me. There weren’t enough sleeping darts to keep me down for good. Yes, I was a Hermessi child, and that meant I had the primordial fire flowing through me. How insolent and blind did he have to be to think that he could tame me for his own profit?
One way or another, I was getting out of this joint.
Hopefully, Taeral would come for me.
He had to be looking for me already.
As I drifted back into unconsciousness, I settled my wandering thoughts on him. I hoped that, if I focused on him, he’d find me faster. As if I were a beacon. A flame.
Taeral
We took advantage of the rest of the night to split up into two teams, like we’d agreed. The Cerixians were mostly day-walkers, and the Armed Forces were less active after sundown. Even with us, the so-called threats, on the loose, they were overpowered by the darkness that stretched across the city. Granted, the streetlamps glowed in soft shades of amber, but the night was ours. We were trained to move through hostile territory, and we’d dealt with deadly Perfects not that long ago. Sneaking around a bunch of Cerixians with fire-powered weapons was a breeze.
Herakles and Riza handled the library. We were basically snooping and stealing from the Cerixians’ records, but it had to be done. The situation demanded it. We had a couple of hours left till sunrise, and we needed to make the most of them. We were due to meet back in our secret attic, once we were done with our nocturnal tasks.
I teleported the rest of our crew behind the city’s prison. It looked like a sullen, quiet giant beneath the starry sky. The distant boots of patrolling Armed Forces soldiers echoed around us. The back alley was dark and damp, and the shadows favored us.
“Twenty of them, in total,” Varga whispered, using his True Sight. “They’re patrolling the grounds. I figure
they’ll reach us in about two minutes, judging by their walking speed.”
“We’ll be long gone, by then,” I said. “We need to get to Trap Mellon.”
Varga nodded, then focused his sentry vision on the building itself, scanning each of its four levels. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Got him. Third floor, northeast corner,” he replied, then nodded at a specific part of the prison. “Right there.”
I gripped his arm, while he linked hands with the others. A split second later, we were inside. Third floor, northeast corner, right where I’d followed his gaze.
The hallway lights were dim. On the left, the cells were sunk in darkness. I still caught a glimpse of a sleeping silhouette or a foot dangling from the side of a bed. We had to be quiet. The last thing we needed was angsty prisoners giving away our location. To our left, the warden’s door was ajar. Lamplight flickered inside, revealing someone half asleep behind the desk.
I snuck in first, swiftly followed by Varga, Raphael, Amelia, and Eva, who closed the door behind her with a discreet click. Still, it was loud enough to startle Trap. He bolted upright with a gasp, his eyes wide as he regained consciousness. He blinked several times, staring at us. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that we were, in fact, standing there.
“We need to talk,” I said firmly.
Trap didn’t show any emotion. I figured it had to do with his military training. I’d been taught to do the same. He didn’t want us to see any fear. He leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath.
“I figured you’d be back, sooner or later,” he replied.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
He scoffed. “You think I didn’t notice the way you look at Inalia?”
Heat burst through me. Embarrassment had a funny way of rearing its head when I least expected it. My stomach tightened into a marble. I didn’t realize why I felt this way, until I understood the meaning behind Trap’s words. I did have a bit of a soft spot for Inalia—but who wouldn’t? The girl was beautiful. That fiery red hair alone was enough to make me warm on the inside. On top of that, she was brave and strong. Not to mention smart as a whip. There was also a peculiar fragility about her that made me want to look out for her. Her supernatural origin played a part here, too. I was genuinely in awe of her, and I had a feeling she didn’t fully comprehend how powerful she could be, given that her father was a Hermessi.
A Shade of Vampire 70: A Breed of Elements Page 3
