Dying Light

by Kory M. Shrum

  “I feel plenty willing.” And it’s not like I don’t have a thousand reasons to kill the man.

  Brinkley. Just thinking of him makes my chest ache. Brinkley was the one good man in my life, and Caldwell snapped his neck like he was nothing.

  Caldwell’s malicious grin softens. He adopts a look of sincerity that I don’t trust for a minute, not with Winston squirming in his arms.

  “We need to talk.” Caldwell keeps his voice low. “There are things going on that you can’t possibly understand. And you can’t be naïve enough to believe Mr. Tate will tell you the truth. I need you to come to me so you and I can reach an understanding.”

  “Put Winston down and I’ll come with you now.”

  “No.”

  I swear Caldwell’s trying not to smile.

  “Fucking bastard, give me my dog.”

  Winston squirms, his little squished nose and big eyes pitiful. The heat rises in my chest and the air starts to glimmer around me. Gabriel’s power builds, making it feel like my flesh is pulling away from my bones.

  “If you blast me, you’ll kill your own dog,” Caldwell reminds me. “Pull yourself together.”

  His chastisement infuriates me more. I struggle to breathe.

  He grins again, triumphant. “No, I think I’ll make you work for it. Walk out of here on your own accord. Show me you deserve to know the truth. You’ll find it harder than you think to get away.”

  What kind of mind game is this? “What about my dog?”

  “He’ll be safe,” Caldwell says and takes a step away from me. “Your sister will look after him.”

  My sister? My mouth falls open, heavy with questions, but Caldwell takes another step back and is gone.

  Gone—and so is Winston.

  Chapter 4

  Ally

  I’m a liar. I’m a liar. I’m a liar.

  The words replay in my mind. Okay, I haven’t lied directly, but I’m certainly vague about my actions. Jesse, Nikki, and Jeremiah all believe I’m working the child placement cases and only the child placement cases. The fact that I haven’t corrected them, that I allow them to believe what they want about my work, is certainly a deception.

  I lay curled up in the bed I share with Nikki, my back against the headboard, laptop resting on my knees. The bed feels a little colder without her, but I’m making the most of my time alone.

  On top of a pillow, I flip open Brinkley’s journal and unfold the white pages inserted in the middle. Hundreds of names are listed there, including Jesse Priority 2, Nashville, second from the top. Brinkley took this believing it was Caldwell’s hit list. He must’ve been right. It’s taken all of my free moments in the last two months to whittle the names down to just a dozen—everyone has either turned up dead or gone missing.

  I maximize the web browser window and read the article title again:

  Monroe Dupree, 53, Takes Own Life Twice.

  My finger slides down the first page and stops at a name near the bottom: Monroe Dupree, Priority 18, New Orleans.

  The article includes a sad photo of a black man standing in front of a dilapidated house. Is this the man Caldwell’s team is hunting in Louisiana? Is he a partis like Jesse and that is why Caldwell is searching him out?

  I’m not foolish enough to believe that Caldwell’s men just happened to be canvassing the town this man lives in. There is no such thing as coincidence where Caldwell is concerned. But I’m not in a hurry to rush in and save him either.

  Jesse tried to save another partis, Liza, from Caldwell and Liza nearly killed her. I won’t make the same mistake. I want to know who all the partis are—how many potential threats are lying in wait out there—and hopefully gain a better understanding of the situation.

  But I can’t tell Nikki or Jeremiah. What if they want to take these people and force them into the fight? Based on the article’s depiction of the man, Monroe couldn’t handle that. He’s suffering a severe depression after the death of his wife. He’s unsuccessfully tried to kill himself twice, once by hanging, once by train. A person like that doesn’t need to be dragged into war.

  The door beeps signaling Nikki’s entry. I scoop up the laptop, journal and papers and shove them under the bed with one violent shove. Then I throw myself into the pillow and close my eyes.

  My heart is still hammering when I feel the press of a kiss on my cheek, then my neck, and then my collarbone. She conforms her body to mine, spooning me.

  “Nicole Tamsin,” I say in mock reproach. “Don’t you know better than to wake a sleeping lady?”

  I hope she can’t hear my pounding heart or the unevenness of my breath as Nikki stretches beside me. She brings one hand to rest on my belly so that I’ll roll over to face her. She has the cheekbones and pouty lips of a model. Her beautiful blue eyes crinkle at the corners as she smiles at me. Her hair is pulled up in its usual sleek ponytail, a streak of purple falling over one shoulder. She’s beautiful, but her eyes look tired tonight.

  “You were too gorgeous to resist.” She kisses my nose. Her eyebrows shoot up. “And I’m surprised I was able to get away with touching you.”

  “Be fair. She’s gotten better,” I say. When Jesse could first cast force fields, her primary objective seemed to be keeping Nikki from touching me. Not the most useful way to practice one’s power, and it certainly put a strain on our relationship. But lately, unless I am in direct danger, she seems to have relaxed her standards.

  “I’m not complaining.” Nikki purrs and pulls me close. She wraps me up in her arms, and I soften into the warmth of her. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”

  I don’t point out that Jesse probably doesn’t know Nikki is here and therefore doesn’t know she has to guard against her. “Jeremiah’s kept you busy,” I say.

  Nikki frowns. “He doesn’t think I can keep my head clear around you. Every mission he chooses is as far from you as possible.”

  “Would it be so different if you were here?” I ask.

  Her nostrils flare. “You won’t get pushed out of a burning building, for starters.”

  “Jesse would never do anything to hurt me.”

  “She pushed you out of a 40th floor window!”

  “34th,” I correct her. “And she shielded me from the fall. You saw that part too, right?” Though I’m not sure how it looks on tape.

  “Her shield collapsed the second she died. What if she’d died on the way down? What if she’d had a heart attack or was shot? Your brains would be all over Wacker Drive.”

  “That didn’t happen.”

  “It could have.” Her eyes are wide, fearful. “I don’t like how easily she’s willing to take your life in her hands. I really don’t like how willing you are to let her.”

  My anger blooms red behind my eyes. “I trust her.”

  She swallows whatever she plans to say next. What could she say that wouldn’t make me mad? I don’t trust her. She’s reckless. She endangers you and I won’t have it. No. Nikki is too smart to walk into that trap.

  “You’re okay,” she says and crushes me against her, kissing along my jawline. “That’s all that matters.”

  She’s warm and soft. My mind goes fuzzy around the edges and my limbs grow heavy. I fold into her, and try to relax. And while my body is thrilled she’s returned, my mind won’t sit still. I want her to explain why Jeremiah has such an interest in Jesse and why he seems invested in her actions. If anyone would know his motivations, it would be Nikki. But I don’t press her for answers.

  I have my own secrets after all, so it makes it difficult, given how much Nikki has grown on me.

  Nikki doesn’t know about Brinkley’s journals. I’ve read them through twice now. While it answered a lot of questions I had about Caldwell, it left me with more concerns than ever. Maisie, for example. Does Caldwell really have a second daughter? If he does, she’d have to be sixteen now—if she’s alive. Brinkley didn’t seem to think so, but I’m not so sure. Caldwell might want to kill Jesse for her gifts, but if M
aisie isn’t partis too, she may not be a threat. How would Jesse react to the news of a second younger sibling?

  Her thirteen year old brother is safe with his aunt and uncle in Illinois, growing up on a farm far away from all of this. But Maisie, if she’s alive, must be in the thick of it. I suppose Caldwell could use his mind tricks to hide her.

  I haven’t shared any of this information with Jeremiah or Nikki. I haven’t told them about Gabriel or the fact that Jesse believes he is the source of her powers either.

  She’s kissing me on the neck again and an alarm sounds somewhere in the building. The snail-shaped intercom in Nikki’s ear blinks to life, casting blue light across her cheek. She groans. “Just one night off. Is that too much to ask?”

  She presses the button on her ear. “Tamsin here.”

  Her brow furrows.

  “Yes, why?” she asks the person on the other end. Her eyebrows shoot up. “Understood.”

  I come up on my elbows. “What’s happening?”

  “Jesse’s having a meltdown on the roof.”

  I throw back the covers and yank on my shoes. My coat is on the back of the chair until I tug it on.

  Nikki catches up to me at the elevator and we ride up to the 65th floor. Everyone must be up there already.

  32, 33, 34.

  “Something happened.” I’m certain of it.

  “She needs to get better control of her emotions,” Nikki says, checking the guns on either side of her hips. I shoot her a withering look, and she immediately takes her hands off her metal. “I’m just saying, she has a lot of firepower. She has to be more careful.”

  54, 55, 56.

  “She doesn’t lose control without a reason. She’s reactive.” I don’t take my eyes off the ascending elevator numbers, willing them to go faster. “Something must’ve happened.”

  65.

  The doors slide open, and all I can see is black Kevlar. Bodies covered in full armor block the elevator and the walkway leading out onto the terrace.

  “Move,” Nicole booms beside me. Since she’s their commander, they obey her in one fluid movement. The only person here with more authority is Jeremiah, and I can see him up ahead. He’s closest to Jesse, trying to talk her down.

  “Jesse!” I yell. “Jesse, I’m right here.”

  I squeeze through the mass of limbs and make my way out onto the roof. The terrace is empty except for Jesse and Jeremiah who stand several feet away, his hands out in surrender. I make a motion for him to fall back.

  “It’s okay.” I step in front of the soldiers, making myself the closest person to Jesse.

  Nikki takes her place by Jeremiah’s side, all eyes trained on Jesse.

  “Jess,” I say again and this time she finally looks up at me. Her eyes are rimmed with tears and her cheeks are red from the wind and cold. She stands shivering in only scrubs. She must be freezing. I don’t see Winston, so why is she here? “What happened?”

  I come to a stop in front of her. I don’t touch her yet.

  “He took him.” She screams and the hair on my arms rises. The electrical charge around her is active, and I shouldn’t be so close, but if I move back it might upset her more.

  I take a breath.

  “Who, baby?” I keep my voice steady and soft. “I just got here. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Caldwell took Winston.”

  The edge of my coat catches fire and I jump back. Nikki leaps forward, but I throw up a hand to stop her. “No. I’m fine.” I yank off my coat and stomp out the flames. I love this coat, but it’s not the end of the world. It looks like a dragon took a bite out of the bottom left lapel, but I’m not burned.

  Her eyes are wide with fear. “Your coat—” She wipes at her eyes with her hands, and it’s the moment I’m waiting for. “I’m sorry.”

  I take her into my arms and hug her tight. “I know you didn’t mean it. It’s okay.”

  “He has Winston.”

  “We’ll get him back.”

  “Gabriel—” She drops her voice and places her mouth by my ear. “Gabriel says Caldwell will kill him if I don’t go.”

  “What do you mean if you don’t go?”

  “Caldwell said that if I don’t come to him soon, he’s going to kill Winston.”

  I can’t imagine what in the world Caldwell will do with a slightly obese pug. What kind of ransom is that? Jesse seems to read my mind.

  “He said my sister will be watching him. Of all the lies.”

  My jaw drops. “Maisie is alive?”

  Jesse wrenches herself from my arms. “How do you know her name?”

  “Not here,” I beg, trying to desperately recover the ground I lost.

  A slight shimmer comes alive around Jesse, and I recognize it as the gaseous precursor to the firebomb blast I’ve seen Jesse do dozens of times in the last two months.

  “You said no more secrets!”

  “Breathe,” I tell her. “You need to calm down.”

  Jesse’s body erupts in white hot flames. They dance two or three inches above her body, not touching her skin or clothes. I jump back, knowing it’s a heartbeat before the pulse hurls the flames in all directions, Jesse herself serving as the pilot light.

  Please Jess, no.

  I see her lips part in surprise. Her shoulders roll back, and the first tinge of purple shines through around the edge of her flames. Thank god. She is calming down, calling the power back into herself. The outermost edge of flames flicker and die away.

  Then she collapses.

  She hits the scorched sod with a hard thud, and the flames extinguish on impact.

  “Jesse?” I run over to her, placing my hands on her smoldering chest. The air around her smells electric, but as I put my fingers to her pulse, I find her heart beating fine. I pluck away the tranquilizer protruding from her neck. It comes loose in my hand, rolling along the ridge of my palm.

  I look up and see Nikki lower the tranquilizer gun.

  Chapter 5

  Ally

  “She was going to kill you,” Nikki says through clenched teeth for the tenth time. “What did you expect me to do? Just watch?”

  “She was calming down.” I pace the hospital room, irritated beyond measure that I am here again so soon. “She was fine.”

  “Stop arguing.” Jeremiah makes a final adjustment to Jesse’s IV. “There were many lives on the roof, and we needed to sedate her. Surely you can understand that, Alice.”

  I glare at Jeremiah as I wring the metal bar at the foot of Jesse’s bed. Nikki I have patience for. She is certainly patient enough with me. But Jeremiah has some explaining to do. “How did Caldwell get up there? I thought he had to see where he was going.”

  Jeremiah pushes his glasses higher up on his nose. “I can’t possibly predict his every move.”

  “You mentioned a name on the roof?” Nikki hasn’t tried to get close to me since we left the roof.

  I meet Nikki’s eyes and soften at the sight of her wide, concerned eyes. “Maisie. Caldwell has a second daughter.”

  “How could you possibly know that?” Jeremiah asks, placing his hands on his hips.

  “Brinkley told me.” I hope that I’m a better liar than Jesse. “Not long before he died, he told me about one of his first FBRD cases, which involved her.”

  Questions are written all over their faces, but I look away.

  “Why didn’t you tell us Caldwell has another daughter?”

  “You didn’t ask.” I press my hands to Jesse’s cheeks. They’re growing warmer. Good.

  “We’re a team.” Jeremiah falls back on his position as commander. “We can’t keep things from each other.”

  Yet, I don’t trust you, I think. I’m not saying Jeremiah is a bad man. I’m saying that he seems willing to pay any price to destroy Caldwell and I think some prices are too high.

  “We invited you and Jesse here to be part of a team. Teams work together. We share information, not hide it.”

  I know where my lo
yalty lies. “I wouldn’t mention ‘working together’ when Jesse wakes up. She’s going to want you to ‘work together’ to get her dog back.”

  “Out of the question,” Jeremiah says. “I can’t spare my resources on a rescue mission for a dog.”

  Nikki glances at him, mouth slightly ajar.

  “What is it, Tamsin?” he asks, challenging her to open her mouth. He’s never been foolish enough to offer Jesse such an invitation. It reminds me of how different he treats Jesse than everyone else. What I wouldn’t give to know why.

  “Sullivan is an important member of our team. With continued investment and support, she will help us achieve our objectives.”

  My heart warms at her words. She’s willing to advocate for Jesse even though Jesse has never been nice to her. But that’s just how Nikki is.

  “Agreed,” Jeremiah says, wearily.

  “If you deny her request to retrieve Winston, we will likely see backlash from that refusal. She may leave our charge altogether,” Nikki says. “This would be terrible timing given Caldwell’s movements.”

  “She’ll go get Winston with or without you,” I say, hoping to add weight to Nikki’s argument.

  Caldwell’s movements. I linger on Nikki’s point. It was Jeremiah’s strongest selling point in our coming to Chicago. Caldwell has renovated almost twelve buildings in the city to have no windows or doors. It’s strange. The city believes it is some kind of art installation, a giant joke to be explained later. I think it’s a very bad sign.

  “You’re asking me if the lives of my men are worth more than one pug,” Jeremiah says.

  Both Nikki and I tense for his possible reaction, but he doesn’t say anything. His face turns red as if he is holding his breath. Then he turns and storms from the room.

  “He’s being unreasonable,” I say, staring at the door, half-expecting him to return. “Did you see how he disregarded Winston?”

  “Caldwell kills thousands of people a year.” Nikki comes to stand beside me. “Are their lives worth less than Jesse’s?”