My throat was raw, and I smelled charred meat in the air. The pain was breathtaking. Enough that I kind of wished I had passed out.
“Can you walk?” Carlisle asked. “We have to get to Franco’s.”
Whether or not I was losing less blood now, I felt even weaker than I had before Carlisle had decided to “help” me. My vision was swimming, my thoughts thick like syrup. I couldn’t imagine pulling myself to my feet right now.
I tried to say so but couldn’t seem to get much further than, “Nnnn…”
He laid a hand on my chest. “Come on, Hal.”
“—don’t think Franco will be—”
“You let me worry about Franco,” he said. “Now I’m going to help get you moving. Try to take it easy.”
Take it easy?
I could do that. Easy.
In fact, I was already fading into unconsciousness. At least until Carlisle’s hand did something tingly to my chest, and a bolt of pure adrenaline pulsed through me. I gasped at the intensity, bolt upright and eyes wide before I knew it.
“Holy scud!” I scrambled up to my feet. “What was that?”
“Just a little boost,” Carlisle said, rising. “It won’t last long, though, so let’s move. Just be careful with your wounds.”
“Right! Yeah. Makes sense. Let’s do it, then. Let’s go! Damn, this feels better.”
I had to consciously try to keep the words from pouring out of my mouth.
My hands. I needed to be doing something with my hands—or the good one, at least. I started drumming on my leg as Carlisle walked over to Smirks’ unconscious form. He removed the Seeker’s palmlight and tossed it to the pavement. I shifted my weight and started tapping my feet.
Sweet Alpha, I was twitchy.
I couldn’t help but think of James, and before I knew it, I was giggling about it.
Carlisle scooped Smirks’ unconscious form over his shoulder and started back toward Franco’s. “Come on, Hal.”
I bounced along beside him. “Prisoners? We’re taking prisoners now?”
“Just the one,” he said, turning down a narrow alleyway. “I’m not sure how they found us, but I don’t want to leave him to do it again.”
Made sense. As did the detour.
There was no way our fight had gone unnoticed. True, we’d been in a seedy area, and there also hadn’t been a soul in sight when the fighting had started. But there’d been gunfire. Reinforcements would already be on the way.
I gladly matched Carlisle as he sprang into a light run, Smirks bobbing limply up and down on his shoulder. We stuck to the back alleys as much as possible, not keen to be spotted by any curious eyes. Especially not with an unconscious man in tow.
At first, the going was easy, and I barely even noticed the pain that had been excruciating only minutes earlier. With each passing minute, though, the boost waned.
By the time we drew up to Franco’s door, my exhaustion had returned, stronger than ever. My body felt oddly distant and vaguely gelatinous, like I might lose form and melt into the ground at any moment. A deep, throbbing ache was taking root across the right side of my body, and my mind felt fried, as if I hadn’t slept for days.
“Weee’re baaack,” I called at one of the cameras.
Carlisle shushed me, and I let out a little chuckle.
So maybe I was getting a bit loopy.
Carlisle waited another few seconds then turned to the camera I’d addressed. “If you can’t see, allow me to point out that Haldin’s been shot. Twice. He needs help, and I strongly suggest you give it to him.”
Even in my altered state, the intensity in his voice was a little bit frightening.
“Sweet Alpha, Carlisle,” I mumbled. “That’s not gonna make—”
The door panel flashed green.
“Huh.”
Carlisle pulled the door open and helped me in, balancing Smirks on his shoulder all the while. I was stumbling up the stairs with Carlisle stabilizing me from behind when the door at the top hissed open and Elise came running out with a protesting James close on her heels.
“Hal?” she cried, rushing down the steps to meet us.
She pulled my left arm over her shoulders, slipping her right arm around my waist to support me the rest of the way. Carlisle followed silently, and James hung at the top of the stairs, fretting.
In the entryway, Phineas gave me a once-over and turned to Carlisle. “You brought a guest?”
Carlisle dropped Smirks to the floor with a muffled thump. “We’ll need to have a chat. Can you find a spot for him?”
Phineas wordlessly scooped the Seeker from the floor and carried him off, past the stairs.
“Phineas?” Carlisle called. He removed his cloaking pendant and tossed it to Phineas. “Make sure that stays on his neck for now. And that he can’t see anything that might give our location away.”
Phineas gave an affirmative grunt and turned back to his business.
I was fading fast now. Elise all but hauled me up the stairs and toward my bedroom. My foot caught on the carpet, and I stumbled against her, my vision clouding with nebulous dots.
“Sweet Alpha, Hal,” she said softly, with only a slight waver in her voice. Her face was pale, and I was pretty sure her fragile smile was solely for my benefit. She shifted my weight on her shoulders and pulled me forward again. “I can’t leave you alone for ten minutes, can I?”
I think that was the moment I realized I loved her.
But maybe that was just the blood loss talking.
A small chuckle escaped me. Then my foot refused to take the next step, and I lurched forward.
Elise braced herself, but Carlisle’s arms snaked in and caught me before I fell into her.
Together, they carried me the rest of the way. James was already bustling about the room, unpacking and organizing their assorted medical supplies. My stomach shriveled at the sight of the scalpel and forceps on a white sterile pad next to the bedside.
My escorts lowered me gently to the bed.
“Go to sleep, Hal,” Carlisle’s voice drifted to me from somewhere. “You’re safe now.”
I squinted and groaned at the glare of the overhead light James had clamped to the bedpost. It beat down on my face, unpleasantly warm and bright.
Then Elise’s face slid into view, cutting out the light. The radiance outlined her face, giving her a positively celestial beauty as she leaned down and planted a light kiss on my forehead.
“I’ll see you soon, stranger,” she whispered.
There might have been worry behind her smile, but my eyes were already slipping closed, the corners of my mouth tugging contentedly upward for the simple presence of my raven-haired seraphim.
Blessed sleep took me.
26
The Calm
The field was lush and colorful, alive with the sounds and smells of nature. I took it in, squinting against the radiance of the clear afternoon sky. A shimmering lake stretched in front of me, calm and beautiful. Beyond its crisp blue depths, mountains rose to meet the sky, their peaks high enough that many of them were lost to distant accumulations of clouds.
A secure warmth pressed against my side.
Elise.
She smiled up at me with startlingly blue eyes, her chin resting on my chest. “Hey, stranger.”
Alpha, did she make my heart race.
My cheeks warmed as I realized she could probably feel it, too.
“You’re here…” was all I could think to say.
Her smile widened, which was inarguably a marvelous thing. And yet…
What was she doing here? What was I doing there?
“Where are we?”
She raised her head from my chest and looked around, frowning. “I don’t know…” She brightened. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
I laughed, and the nagging feeling diminished. “It is! It really is…”
She nestled in, and I lay back down, happy to enjoy her warmth. We basked contentedly in the sun, and I wished all
the while that it could be that way forever.
But it couldn’t, said the nagging thought. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew this was only temporary. We weren’t safe there. I could feel it.
As soon as I had the thought, the day began to darken. We traded an uncertain look and sat up.
A wall of dark clouds was rolling in over the mountains. But, no. That wasn’t right. The storm clouds weren’t passing over or around the mountains. They passed straight through, emerging out of them as if they’d arrived at one side and had simply refused to trouble themselves with circumventing the great, unyielding bodies of stone.
Movement below drew my eye. A dark figure, striding toward us over the surface of the lake. The storm clouds were following him, I realized. Bound to him. I knew before I could see his face that it was General Kublich.
He glided over the water, refusing the pull of gravity even as his storm clouds ignored the physical barrier of the mountains. At each point his boots touched the water, a turbid stream of crimson rippled outward, expanding as he continued forward until he glided along at the point of a murky, blood-red spearhead.
Elise was clutching my arm now. “Hal… Hal, what’s happening?”
Kublich’s eyes came alive with red fire. “Come, boy,” he called, his voice booming off the backdrop of the mountains. “Let us finish it. Or will you run for a third time?”
I was on my feet before I knew it, anger and shame and outrage pulling me toward Kublich like a force of nature, apathetic to the icy fear clenching at my chest.
“Hal!” Elise cried out. “Don’t!”
And then, inexplicably, she was shaking me. “HAL!!”
I snapped awake with a gasp. Cold sweat covered my forehead, and Elise held my left hand in a painfully tight grip, her eyes wide and alarmed.
I scanned the room.
No red eyes. No raknoth. Just a wide-eyed Elise, a good deal of pain beneath the warm haze of whatever drugs they’d given me, and the uncomfortable weight of sweat-soaked blankets.
I was in my bed at Franco’s.
Elise gave her head a shake as if to clear it. “What the hell just happened?”
She looked like she’d just woken up as well.
“I don’t know.” I tried to throw the blankets off and found my right arm was fixed in a blue sling. “I was having a nightmare, I think.”
“You think?! Was that The High General of the Legion?”
My mouth fell open. “You… you saw that? General Kublich?”
“On the lake,” she added, nodding.
We stared at each other, mouths agape.
“Did we just—”
“Share a dream?” I said. “I think so.”
“Oookaaay…” Elise let go of my hand and stood to start pacing the room. “But…”
“Telepathy,” I said with more assurance than I felt. “Our minds are more open to it when we’re sleeping, so we must’ve, uh, found each other, I guess.”
Elise paused her pacing and spread her hands. “Oh, sure. Basic stuff, right? That was freaking weird, Hal! And why The General? Is he one of them? The raknoth?”
I hesitated.
“It’s okay, Hal. My dad and I had a long talk while you were out. He’s not thrilled, but I made it clear I’m not just gonna keep my head in the dirt anymore. He won’t give you two the boot again. Plus”—she threw her hands up in exasperation—“maybe I deserve just a little bit to know why you keep coming back here half dead.”
“You’re right. You do.” I reached out to her with my free hand.
She took it and sat back down, waiting.
“Kublich is one of the raknoth. He’s… the one that killed my parents. Would have killed me too if Carlisle hadn’t shown up. That’s why I’m here.”
“To make him pay?”
“Alpha willing, yeah. But, I don’t know. It’s more than just that. They’re gonna eat this planet alive if no one stops them. Revenge or not, I can’t just watch it happen.”
She ran her free hand lightly over the bandages on my arm and shoulder. “You also can’t stop them if you’re dead.”
“Well, if I don’t—if someone doesn’t—we’re all dead anyway.”
“That doesn’t… I mean, Alpha, Hal”—she laid her hand on the side of my head— “things were turning dark in there.”
I dropped her gaze. Tried to shrug it off. “I’m still not even sure how you got in there.”
A glance at her neck confirmed her cloaking pendant was still absent. She noticed my focus and touched the empty spot at her breastbone almost self-consciously.
“You should probably…” I started, before realizing I was about to walk myself into a corner.
But she was good. Much better than me. It took her all of a half-second to process the inconsistency.
“Son of a… You already know, don’t you?”
I swallowed, afraid to answer. “I just found out about your mom tonight, or”—I glanced at my palmlight for the time—“last night, I guess. After the scudstorm.”
She released my hand, studying me, her expression pensive.
“I wanted to tell you the minute I found out,” I pressed on. “There are so many things I’ve wanted to tell you, Elise, but… Well, I did end up getting shot when I finally let something slip, so maybe my fears weren’t totally unwarranted?”
She stared at me blankly then finally rolled her eyes, lips twitching upward. “Oh, boo-hoo…”
I showed her a guilty smile.
“Anything else you want to tell me?”
“I guess the first thing is to emphasize that you wear your pendant at all times from now on. It will keep you safe from—”
“Unfriendly minds. I know, I know.” She frowned at herself. “Alpha, that still sounds weird. But yeah, that was the first thing Daddy Dearest told me when he’d calmed down enough to revert back to spoken language rather than interpretive furniture flipping. Carlisle gave me the same spiel an hour later, while I was watching James dig a slug out of your shoulder.”
“Ah. Right. So then…”
“Well, I was hesitant to leave with you all…” She waved a hand helplessly. “And he said he had me covered for the moment anyway, so I just…” She shook her head. “I don’t even know why I took it off in the first place yesterday. I barely ever do, but… Well, it was an interesting day. And now, finding out about my mom and everything, I just feel, I don’t know, betrayed. And when Dad told me this thing was keeping my abilities hidden… It’s just a lot to process.”
“I’m sorry, Elise.”
She shrugged, though her expression was bleak. “Hey, you started the revolution. Once you blew the lid off, he didn’t really have any choice. He told me things he’s been holding in pretty much my whole life. Being the last one to know obviously sucks, and I’m still pissed about it. But I don’t know, it’s kind of amazing. My mom, a Shaper. And now this.” She tapped the side of her head. “It’s crazy. I really just want to find out what else I can do.”
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. “Now that’s something I can help you with. You know, as long as no one’s gonna shoot me for it.”
Taking to my feet, I decided I was getting entirely too accustomed to working through the pain of fresh injuries. As brightly as my two slug wounds lit up, though, it wasn’t nearly as bad as walking around post-raknoth-smashing had been.
“Easy there, master Shaper,” Elise said, hovering beside me. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to be hitting the mats right now.”
I chuckled. “Maybe not, but sitting gingerly and talking you through some exercises, I can probably survive. We should probably see what the others are up to first, though.”
“Yeah, it was a bit tense last night,” she admitted as she took my arm to support me out to the hallway. “I think things might be calming down now that everyone’s had a chance to at least try to sleep.”
Once we got moving, I felt stable enough. Elise kept my arm in hers anyway.
; “So did your dad fill you in on what we’ve been doing here? I mean, more than what I’ve said already?”
“You mean fighting the evil demons bent on world domination? Yeah, I think he mentioned something about that. Still trying to decide if you guys are all screwing with me.”
“I wish I was.”
She said nothing. Just glanced at me and quirked an eyebrow as if to say, Oh yeah?
For a second, my cheeks out-burned my slug wounds.
We found James and Franco in the kitchen. They looked tired.
Franco stood to face me, his expression guarded, and I tensed. Next to me, Elise radiated exasperation but remained silent.
Finally, Franco stepped forward and laid a hand on my uninjured shoulder. “I owe you an apology, Hal. I overreacted. Maybe by a long shot. It’s… hard sometimes to keep a level head when it comes to the safety of your child. I’m just glad you’re alive.”
“Thanks, Franco.” I patted his shoulder in return and immediately felt awkward about it. “I understand.”
I wasn’t sure I really did, but the apology surprised me, and I didn’t know what else to say.
“You guys must be hungry,” James said, rising from the table to grab more plates.
I was, I realized. Famished, in fact.
We all sat at the table, and I gratefully dug into a plate full of eggs and toast.
“Where’s Carlisle?” I tried to ask around an indecent mouthful of eggs.
“Keeping an eye on the Seeker you two dragged back here,” Franco said. He didn’t sound thrilled about it. “We’re going to have to figure out what to do with him. And quickly. I didn’t sign on for holding prisoners, here. Especially not telepathic ones.”
“I agree,” I said. Which was wholeheartedly true, given Smirks’ proclivity for mind-hopping. “Do you think he knows anything we can use?”
Franco shrugged. “I’m not getting my hopes up, but it’s worth finding out. Rumor has it there are only twelve of them in service at any given time, so they might be privy to some dirty secrets.”
“Only eleven now, I guess,” I said quietly, recalling the Seeker who’d taken a bullet while tangling with Carlisle.
Shadows of Divinity Page 24
