by Wendy Knight
It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
“Ready?” she asked Keven. Her eyes flicked briefly to Cole, and then landed on Keven again.
“Yep.”
She leaped gracefully into the air, her wings spreading, pumping up and down easily through the night sky. Cole jumped into the car as Mike and Blair slid over to make room. The entire back of the truck was full of guns. Just in case. Lying on top of them all was the bow and arrows Nyx would use to shoot the Garce.
Next to it was a cooler, with the sparking, fiery blood that fought with the human DNA. Every so often, it would win, and there would be a miniature explosion before turning the entire vial blue.
Blair turned around and put the lid on the cooler, glancing nervously at Mike.
“Good call.”
They drove north for two hours. Nyx had scouted the area the last several nights, going farther and farther and staying away later and later, until she’d finally found the pack on the Utah/Idaho border. It was nearing midnight when she swooped back toward them, gliding on the air currents by Keven’s window. “It’s up here. Their den is in the valley just over that hill.”
Cole’s palms began to sweat. He was still having nightmares about the last time he’d had a run-in with the Garce.
“Any Pys?” Keven asked, slowing the car and turning off the road.
Nyx shook her head.
The ride to the top of the hill wasn’t even close to a smooth one. It had once been a pasture, and the bones and rotting flesh of the horses and cows still littered the field. Enika glanced at Cole in the rear view mirror, her face pale. It was dangerous to be out in the open like this. After a year on the run, it was second nature — stay close to the buildings, close to somewhere to hide.
Although if the Pys showed up, they could get into the hiding places. They could get into anywhere.
Nyx landed on the ground without a sound as the rest of them piled out of the vehicle. “Long ride,” Mike grunted, trying to stretch the kinks out of his legs.
Keven opened the back of the car. “Load up, guys.” He looked pointedly at Enika, who looked pointedly at her ax and then back at him.
Nyx picked up the bow, pulling it back, testing its strength against her arms.
“Okay,” Blair popped the lid off the cooler and pulled out the vials. “For the first experiment, dip the tips of the arrows in this right before you shoot. Don’t wait too long, or the blood will dry, and that will be our second test—” he plucked an arrow from the top. It was florescent yellow, except for the tip, that glowed with dry alien blood. “—the yellow arrows are already loaded and dried. Let’s see how they do.”
Nyx nodded and slipped the vials into the belt around her waist and hung the quiver full of shining fiberglass arrows on the other side. “You look like a modern day Robin Hood.” Enika grinned nervously, bouncing on her toes. Nyx flashed her a grateful smile.
“We’ll be monitoring the situation, so make sure you use the blood in the order we have the vials.” Keven said.
Again, Nyx nodded and then leaped into the sky, wings shooting out and catching the air current. “No matter what happens, you do not come any closer. Understand?” she asked as she fluttered above them. She waited until every single one of them promised, and then she whirled like a flying ballerina and shot off through the night.
“Cole?” Enika murmured by his side. “I’m scared.” Her eyes were huge in her pale face and her hand shook, rattling the ax.
“She’s tough, baby sister. She won’t let them through.” Even so, his heart was pounding in his chest and he could hear it in his ears. He felt like they were sending the proverbial lamb to slaughter.
Actually, he’d seen the Garce slaughter a lamb. It wasn’t like this, not at all. But still, what must she think of them?
She thinks we’re targets.
And she was right.
Beside him, as if reading his mind, Keven cocked his rifle and Enika raised her ax.
Blair and Mike both had binoculars, watching her progress intently. “I’ve never seen her fight before,” Blair said.
“It’s terrifying. And beautiful,” Enika whispered.
“They see her. She’s raising her bow—” Mike’s hands clutched the binoculars tighter, until his knuckles were white. “They’re coming after her.”
NYX SWALLOWED. THERE WERE many Garce in this pack. There was no chance she could kill them all before they killed her. But if they kill me, they’ll go straight for the humans they can undoubtedly smell.
So. They couldn’t kill her. That was all there was to it.
She notched the arrow, focusing on the one closest to her. Grabbing the vial, she tipped it with shaking hands, letting the blood come out in drops, landing on the tip of the arrow head. Then she pulled it back and let it fly.
The Garce screamed as the arrow sank deep into the shadows of its throat. It stumbled, the shadows fading just a bit, but kept coming. Hurriedly, she grabbed another arrow and dropped more blood. This time, she aimed, which was always helpful. The arrow shot fast and true, skewering the alien between the eyes.
It stumbled, shrieking, and lay silent.
Nyx squealed. She’d done it! She’d killed the Garce without using her own alien powers! But now was not the time to celebrate. One down, about… she did a quick count — ten. Ten to go.
She grabbed another arrow, this time the one with the dried blood, and notched it. She remembered to aim this time, sending a silent thank you to her dad, who had taught her archery at such a young age. The arrow flew, hissing through the air, and sank into the second Garce’s chest. It screeched, but kept running. Her heart sank, because attacking with dried blood would have been so much easier…
And then the Garce fell. She threw up one hand in celebration and shot backward, toward her waiting friends. “They work! Both work! Dried blood is a little slower.” She tossed Blair the bow and unhooked the quiver. “Can you shoot that far? I could use some help.”
“I’m on it.” Blair jogged to the crest of the hill, dropping his binoculars. Nyx spun around and raced back across the valley, dodging the arrows that flew past her.
Another Garce fell.
They were getting close though. Too close. She raised her hands, desperately calling her alien half, and it responded. Blood erupted from her fingertips, from her palms, and streaked through the darkness, fire dancing along the top of it. The Garce screamed as two, three, four of them were hit at once. She closed her eyes, trying to control it, trying to aim. Like she had with the bow. Tried to make each strike count.
They collapsed, screaming and smoking.
There were only three left. Another of Blair’s arrows shot through the darkness, hitting one in the leg. It stumbled, howling and limping. Seconds later, another arrow hit it, bright yellow as it sank into its flesh.
Nyx grinned. She could take care of the rest.
She hit the next one between the eyes.
The last one looked positively terrified, and she loved every. Single. Second.
“Die, you stupid alien.”
“COME ON, NYX. YOU can’t sleep all day and fly all night. That makes Nyx a dull girl.” Enika jutted out her bottom lip, pouting.
“It makes Nyx a safe girl, because the humans try to kill her when she attempts to wander around amongst them.” Nyx dug her heels in against the cement and raised an eyebrow. Try me.
And Enika, of course, did, because she had no regard for her own mortality. Cole sat in what they’d unofficially called their game room. One of the shops up top had sold old fashioned games, books, toys. They had looted the store and brought it all down here. There was even a TV, but it didn’t work. Mostly, Cole was pretty sure it was just for comfort.
“One game. I’ll protect you.” Enika grinned triumphantly.
Sighing, rolling her dark blue eyes dramatically, Nyx allowed Enika to drag her in. Enika turned in a slow, threatening circle. “Don’t even one of you dare get up and l
eave this room because she’s here, or I will track you down myself.”
Nyx snorted.
Enika raised outraged eyes to her friend. “What was that?”
Nyx rearranged her face into the picture of innocence. “Nothing. You were very terrifying.”
“You bet I was. Now. We’re playing Monopoly.”
“Monopoly takes forever.”
Enika glowered at her. Nyx shut her mouth, peeking at Cole through her dark hair, hiding a smile. “Okay. But Cole should play too. He is the reigning champion.”
Oh, that took him back. He remembered the last time they’d played Monopoly. The news had been on. People were wondering what the weird animal sightings were. Everyone was excited about the prospect of a new species.
Turns out, it was the Garce. Not so exciting, after all.
Enika got the game off the shelf and plopped on the area rug that covered the floor. Cole got out of his chair and knelt next to her, and they both looked up at Nyx, waiting.
“RayAnna?” Nyx asked, turning to face her. “Would you like to play?”
RayAnna shook her head and hid behind her book.
Slowly, Nyx lowered herself down next to them, her wings brushing uneasily, back and forth, across the rug.
No one else moved.
But they could only sit stone still for so long before sheer exhaustion forced them to relax, and as Nyx had said, Monopoly was a very, very long game. Eventually, everyone went back to what they were doing, with only occasional suspicious glances Nyx’s way.
Nyx, too, finally seemed to forget they all wanted to kill her. She rolled onto her stomach and elbows, tucking her wings against her back. She almost looked human.
If one somehow missed the shimmering blue tattoos or the bright blue streaks in her hair.
“Know what I miss?” Nyx asked, counting out rent to pay to Enika for landing on her railroad. Enika looked over, raising an eyebrow. “I miss washing our cars on your lawn on Saturdays. In our bikinis, remember? And all the boys would pretend not to be watching us, but suddenly they just had to do yard work right there.” She smiled at the memory.
“That’s what you miss? Manual labor?” Enika grabbed the dice, shaking them in her hand.
Nyx stuck her tongue out at her.
Cole, on her other side, spoke up. “Oh yeah. That, I miss too.”
Nyx shivered, a blush staining her pale cheeks as she caught his gaze. Quickly, before he could see her smile, she ducked her head.
“I miss reality TV,” Enika said. “And all the talent shows.”
“I was going to be on one, once.” A guy sitting near the edge of the room spoke up, seemed shocked by his own courage, and swallowed hard.
“Which one?” Enika asked, moving her little dog around the board.
“The talent one. I could juggle flaming knives.”
Nyx’s eyebrows shot up as she glanced at Cole. “That’s… a handy talent to have.”
The guy grinned proudly, reminding Cole of someone who had just been patted on the head by the teacher. “Yeah. It kept me entertained. Great party trick.”
Next to him, a woman at least several years older than they were huffed angrily, stood up, and threw her magazine down. Glaring and trembling all at once, she spun away and stormed out of the room.
“I guess she wasn’t a fan of the reality TV either,” Cole said, praying Nyx had somehow failed to notice the woman’s angry disappearance.
Enika hadn’t. Her hands clenched into fists as she started to get up. His fiery little sister really was going to hunt that woman down herself. He was equal parts worried and amused.
Then again, he also wanted to hunt the woman down himself. And then throw her on her ass out of the compound.
Nyx’s hand shot out and caught Enika before she could get up. “It’s okay. I’ll just go back to my room.” She shrugged, but Cole could see the hurt in her eyes. They almost looked human, with so much pain in them.
“No. No, you will not.” Enika settled back into her seat, leaning across the board to hiss at Nyx. “They will not treat you like this anymore. I won’t let them.”
Nyx smiled sadly, shaking her head. “Give it up, Enika. Just—just give up on me. I’m a lost cause,” she attempted to joke.
Enika’s head snapped up, and if Cole had thought she was angry before, she was beyond pissed now. “Give up on you? Are you kidding me? You. Saved. My. Life.”
Nyx threw up her hands. “You probably would have escaped anyway, Enika! You were smaller than me. Smarter. More wily. You wouldn’t have gotten caught—”
“That’s not what I was talking about, Nyx.” Enika scowled at her, crossing her arms over her chest. The entire room held their breath, watching.
Nyx’s forehead creased in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
Enika growled. “Yes, you saved me that day. But we don’t know what would have happened then. The reason I know you saved my life is because every time I wanted to give up, every time I wanted to cry, or quit, or just let them have me, I remembered you.” Enika’s bottom lip started to quiver, but her eyes were fiery. “I would say to myself, ‘Phoenyx didn’t sacrifice herself so I could go ahead and die anyway.’ Or, ‘Phoenyx didn’t do that so I could give up.’ You were there with me every single step, and I didn’t give up… because of you.”
The room was dead silent. Nyx sucked in a breath, tears tracing their way down her cheeks, slipping off her jaw to land on her collarbone, but she made no move to brush them away. Enika, too, had tears in her eyes, but she didn’t blink. And no one else, it seemed, dared even to breathe.
Except Cole.
“I helped a little too. You know. Sometimes.”
Nyx and Enika both turned bewildered, watery eyes on him.
And then Nyx laughed.
Enika nodded, throwing her arms around him. “Yeah, sometimes.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“RAYANNA? WE NEED TO TALK.” COLE swallowed twice, trying to free his tongue from the coma it seemed to be in. RayAnna looked up at him, eyes wide and already hurt. She knew what was coming — she’d known for several days, in fact. Ever since they’d come back from the Garce test attack so full of hope. Finally, they had a way to fight back.
Because of Nyx.
But RayAnna was sneaky. She knew how to avoid serious talks — she fell asleep, she made sure they were surrounded by people, or she promptly started to cry — all of which were excellent ways to put off a discussion she didn’t want.
“I don’t think we do, Cole. In fact, a lot of these guys are heading topside to work on the garden. I thought we could go with them. Get some fresh air. Pretend we’re still human.” She gave him a weak smile.
He shook his head. “Stop, RayAnna. I know what you’re doing, and I don’t want to have this conversation either, but—”
“Then don’t.” She scrambled to her feet and took his hands. “You don’t want this conversation, I don’t want this conversation. Why are you so determined to have something neither of us want?”
He took her hands, pulling them away from his chest where they clenched and unclenched and clenched again. “Because pretending I’m not—”
She jerked away, covering her ears with her hands. Gently, he pulled them away, leaning down to peer into her eyes. “It isn’t fair to either of us, RayAnna.”
Cole heard the fiery crackle before she spoke. He turned quickly, nearly losing himself in her flashing eyes. “What are you doing, Cole?” Nyx hissed, leaving the tunnel to come into the wider room he and RayAnna stood in.
“I’m just—”
Her hand shot out, burning hot and sparking, and grabbed his wrist. “Can I talk to you for a second please?”
Cole expected some sort of response from RayAnna — she wouldn’t really want him to disappear with a half-alien that they all knew he was in love with, would she?
But she didn’t say a word, just watched them go, her chest rising and falling with barely concealed sobs.
/> “Cole, we’ve discussed this.” Nyx said, turning on him as soon as they were out of earshot. The tunnel barely had enough room for her wings — the tips brushed the concrete ceiling above. She was bare footed, her toes trying to dig into the cracked cement floor. “You and me,” her hand motioned between them, little sparks of lightning stinging the bare skin of his arm. “We’re done.”
He looked down at her, recognizing the pain and fear in her blue, blue eyes. “You can’t tell me we’re done, Nyx. Last time we talked—”
“I was stupid. We can’t be together.”
“Because of RayAnna? Nyx, I don’t love her like I love you. I tried. But it isn’t fair to her—”
“Not because of RayAnna, you idiot! Because I’m part alien! I’m part enemy!” She jerked away from him, hugging her arms around her chest, her jaw clenched so tight he thought her teeth might break.
“Nyx, you’re keeping them at bay. If you’re not constantly fighting, we might be able to find a cure. We might be able to change you back—”
She blinked, her mouth falling into a silent O. “Cure me?”
“Yeah. I mean, we haven’t done many tests—”
“Cure me?” she whispered.
It was then that he realized he’d said something very, very stupid.
But he wasn’t sure what.
“Well, I mean—”
“So you only want to be with me if I’m human. Like you. What if there isn’t a cure, Cole?” she yelled. The sparks ran faster and faster across her wings, hypnotizing him until his eyes crossed.
“Then we’ll worry about that when we get there!” he yelled back, scrubbing his eyes with his fists. When he opened them again, Nyx was backing away.
“No.” She shook her head, eyes wide in her pale face. “No, Cole. I let you shatter my heart once. I’m not going to let it happen again.”
