It wasn’t Callie that had grabbed me.
It was a boy. A boy that I knew, even if I didn’t know I did until I looked into his eyes. I recognized the black hair that curled under his ears, the slope of his shoulders, his tall lean frame.
I’ve seen him nearly every night for months. In my dreams. The Boy-in-White—only dressed in faded jeans and a black hoodie. As if seeing his face for the first time now, in the flesh rather than in a dream, wasn’t enough, I found myself lost in his eyes—such a pure green that they redefined the color.
He held my gaze as firmly as he gripped my waist, and I got the impression he was just as stunned as I was. He recovered first, grabbing Callie with one hand, and quickly steered both of us behind the cover of a large boulder several yards away.
The only reason I let him was because I was in shock.
A shriek of horrendous pain behind me snapped me out of it, and I remembered what I had been doing before the boy grabbed me.
Nathan needed my help.
As if sensing my intentions, the boy pushed me down behind the boulder, beside Callie, before I could slip out of his grasp. He dropped to a knee in front of me and brought a finger to his lips, instructing us to be quiet.
Then he finally spoke, and his familiar voice was like a lullaby to my ears. “Stay right here. Let the pros handle this,” he said. He froze me with a quick wink, and then he was gone, heading straight for the fight.
I crawled around the boulder after him. I had always sensed that he meant no harm to me, and I was still sure of that now…but Nathan? I didn’t know what he intended for Nathan.
And then, there were the other Kala to worry about.
At least, from what I could see, Nathan was okay. Another Skotadi had been dissipated while I’d been in la-la land with the Boy-in-White. The two Kala had joined Nathan in fighting the remaining five Skotadi. That was reassuring, but still, I had a brief pang of concern as the mystery boy from my dreams drew closer to him.
The Skotadi saw the boy and faltered. Enough for Nathan and the other two Kala to quickly finish off their immediate threats. As three bodies evaporated, the boy produced two shiny objects, seemingly from nowhere, and with two snaps of his wrists, dispatched them into the chests of the two remaining Skotadi as they stared at him. They both dissipated, probably before they even knew what hit them.
In a matter of seconds, nothing remained of the Skotadi.
There was a beat of awed silence as the two Kala and Nathan surveyed each other, then all at one, all three raised their guns. Two pointed at Nathan; one pointed at the Boy-in-White.
The Kala shifted anxiously once they realized where Nathan’s gun was aimed. Nathan didn’t flinch. He might not have known what I knew, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew this boy was someone important. And having a gun pointed at his head gave Nathan the upper hand.
If only Nathan knew what I knew. It was quite possible that the fate of humanity rested on this kid’s shoulders. But Nathan only had one thing on his mind. As disturbing as it was, I found it flattering.
“Where’s Kris?” he demanded of the boy. When a response apparently didn’t come fast enough for his satisfaction, he added, “I will shoot you.”
That threat—because I knew it wasn’t an empty one—kicked my butt into gear, and I clambered to my feet quickly. “Nathan, I’m here,” I called as I rounded the boulder.
His shoulders heaved in visible relief. A reassuring smile started to form on my lips, but the flash of metal to my left pulled it up short. I froze as the two guns pointed at Nathan turned to me.
Even more shocking than having two guns pulled on me one second was having someone throw themself in front of me the next. The only thing more shocking was who.
“No!” The Boy-in-White shouted as he moved to shield me.
Fortunately, no one had fired, so neither of us were shot. Not yet. It wasn’t looking good for me as the two Kala shifted to get an angle around the boy.
“Gabby,” the boy said sharply, “we talked about this. She’s off limits. Richie?”
Gabby and Richie, was it? I supposed it was nice to know the names of the people about to kill me. And from the hateful scowls on both of their faces, they were dead-set on ensuring it.
When they didn’t lower their weapons, the boy pulled me snugly behind him, guarding me fully with his body. “Stay behind me,” he whispered to me, then he raised his voice to the Kala, “Put the guns down, guys, or so help me, I will do nothing to help you assholes.”
Risking a peek over the kid’s shoulder, I watched as the girl—Gabby—swatted a strand of curly brown hair out of her eyes, which remained coolly fixed on me, along with her gun. Though his gun also remained trained on me, the guy named Richie slanted his eyes uneasily to Nathan.
And for good reason. A confident and pissed off Nathan could intimidate anyone. Only I saw the glimmer of fear in his eyes when they met mine. I desperately wanted to run to his side, but the kid was holding me back. I figured that sticking by him was probably best for me at the moment anyway, as far as expanding my life expectancy was concerned.
“Put the guns down,” the boy pleaded with them again. “It’s alright. Look at her. Does she look dangerous to you?”
They glanced at each other, but neither looked ready to waver.
Suddenly, I heard the cocking of a gun beside me, close to my ear, but it wasn’t my head it was pressed to.
“Do as he says, or I’ll blow his brains out,” Alec announced his stealthy return. He stepped beside me, his eyes trained on the two Kala, and gun pressed to the Boy-In-White’s head. Though he never looked directly at me, I swore I saw a faint glow in his eyes. A flash of gold.
That wasn’t good.
Maybe the Kala saw the glint in his eyes, or maybe it was the tone of his voice that told them he wasn’t bluffing. Whatever it was, it worked. They lowered their weapons, reluctantly.
“Throw them on the ground,” Nathan ordered.
They did as they were told, and only then did Alec turn to me. His eyes weren’t glowing gold anymore, and I wondered if I had really seen it at all, or if I had imagined it.
“Go to Nathan,” Alec told me. Shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth, I faltered. He lifted an amused eyebrow. “Go on.”
Nathan watched me carefully as I scurried toward him. Satisfied that I was in one piece, he returned his attention to the Boy-in-White, who he still had his gun trained on. As did Alec.
I wanted to tell them both to ease up. I knew the boy wasn’t a danger. Hell, he had nearly taken a bullet for me. I didn’t know why he’d done it, but his actions alone spoke volumes.
That and I knew he could be trusted. From the dreams. But because I couldn’t tell Nathan and Alec what I knew without telling them about the dreams, I bit my tongue and let them go about their own way of developing trust.
“Who are you?” Nathan asked the boy, and my ears perked up. I desperately needed a name, other than Boy-in-White.
His eyes fixated on me, as if I were the one who had asked him the question. “Micah,” he said evenly despite having a gun pressed behind his ear. He nodded his head in the direction of the other two Kala. “That’s Gabby and Richie.”
From beside me, I heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. “What are you doing here?”
Micah’s eyes narrowed on Nathan, and I realized I wasn’t the only one who sensed Nathan’s temper. I had to give it to him—the boy had balls, glaring at Nathan like that. “Same as you, watching the warehouse.”
“Why?”
Micah glanced at me with a shrug. I could have been mistaken, but I swore I detected the hint of a grin on his face. “Why are you?”
Alec pressed the gun behind Micah’s ear, forcing his head forward a fraction. “Answer the damn question!”
Micah definitely grinned now. I wondered if he was insane, because really, only a crazy person would be grinning with two guns pointed at his head. And then, Micah nodded at me. “
Ask her.”
My skin blanched as I felt everyone’s eyes turn to me. “I…I don’t know.”
And I didn’t. Not really. I assumed they were here because the Skotadi were here, but something about Micah’s expression hinted at something more. Something I wasn’t in on. I suspected there was another reason he had done his best to lure me here.
“Sure you do,” he said confidently, and I silently prayed that he wasn’t about to spill my secret about the dreams. He hesitated with an amused tilt of his head, his grin growing as he leveled his gaze on me. “Don’t you know? I’m the one you were created to kill.”
As it turned out, Gabby and Richie had a very good reason to pull their guns on me.
They knew exactly who I was—what I was. They knew how dangerous I could eventually be. As did Micah. But for some reason, the kid insisted they keep their hands off of me.
And suggested that we join forces.
I suspected that they were only amusing Micah, but after a lot of coaxing and promises of peace, Nathan and Alec agreed to follow them back to their hideout. As we approached a large log house at the end of a long gravel driveway, I realized that they had been living much more luxuriously than we had.
The house was a rental property, most often used by large parties looking to enjoy the nearby ski resort. They assured us of its safety, and I didn’t doubt them. They had been there for months already, and I doubted the Skotadi would have thought to look for a small group of Kala renting a house in the middle of ski country.
They filled us in on their plan to pick off the Skotadi at the warehouse little by little. They, too, had figured the Skotadi force too strong to take on with a single attack, but small raids on, say the vehicles coming and going, might weaken the Skotadi over time…and lead to some worthy intelligence.
Of course, if we agreed to work with them, there was a better chance of success. I saw it in both Nathan’s and Alec’s eyes. A partnership was our best shot.
Once a truce, overseen by Micah, had been established between all parties, Nathan and Alec had agreed to stay, at least for a little while. It only seemed right since we all had the common goal of snooping on the Skotadi. We could work together, help each other, get more accomplished in our pursuit of answers.
I knew it made sense for us to work together. But why exactly Micah, Gabby, and Richie were here in the first place remained a mystery. One that I intended to uncover soon.
Alec and Callie had gone back to the hotel to collect our stuff. That left me and a tightly wound Nathan alone with our new allies. It was he who whisked me down the hall into one of the bedrooms before I even knew who had ahold of my arm.
He shut the door softly behind us. As much as I would have liked to think he had brought me in there to do something fun, like make out, I knew that wasn’t the case.
He had pulled me out of earshot of the others, simply to talk. And not about anything I really wanted to talk about. Not with him. Not since he’d made that ridiculous vow to not act on his feelings for me until we took some time thinking.
I’d gone along with his wishes at the time, but as the weeks went by, it became apparent that I didn’t need to think about anything. I had feelings for him. Period. I used to have feelings for Alec. But what I’d once felt for Alec was now overshadowed by what I felt for Nathan. I knew that. I only wished he believed it.
But then, he had things to think about too—like his thought to be dead girlfriend, Lillian, waltzing back into his life as a Skotadi—and I didn’t want to push him. I’d been a good girl, giving him his space, though it was a slow tortuous death for me. For the most part, I’d gotten good at pretending I wasn’t an emotion wreck every time I was alone with Nathan. Now, I tried to downplay the turmoil churning my stomach by acting over-confident.
“What’s up?”
He crossed the room to where I stood, and I allowed myself a brief daydream that he was coming over to sweep me off my feet and finally whisper to me the words I have been longing to hear from him for weeks, before kissing me madly.
Hey, a girl could dream.
“I don’t know about this,” he said instead. “Something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if we can trust this kid.”
“Nathan, it’s fine,” I insisted. “Don’t ask me how I know. I just do.”
He blinked slowly and waited. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t get it. He didn’t know about my dreams, and I intended to keep it that way. I had to convince him to trust Micah like I trusted Micah, without telling him how I knew to trust Micah.
“He’s a part of this, Nathan. An important part. He might be the only one out there that can help me—really help me—and he wants to. I think we need to hear what he has to offer.”
“If he’s really the one, the Kala they created to bring an end to this war…” Nathan continued, and paused as if to be sure I completely understood the gravity of what he was about to say. “You do realize that you’re the only one standing in his way? You’re the one enemy he has, and you’re standing here, in his house, telling me to trust him. You ever hear the saying, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?”
When he put it that way, it didn’t sound so smart. “Yeah, I know it looks bad. But, Nathan, I’ve got to trust my instincts on this one. I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
There was more to it than us being born enemies. If it were really that simple, why didn’t he let Gabby and Richie shoot me? He’d had his chance to be rid of me…and he had protected me.
“You want me to trust him because you have a feeling?”
“A strong feeling, almost prophet-like,” I explained. And who knew? Maybe I was a prophet.
Prophets had the ability to visit people in their dreams, as well as visualize the future, read people’s intentions, and sometimes their minds. I sure couldn’t read anyone’s mind, but maybe I was picking up on Micah’s intentions.
And they were good.
Nathan considered what I said. “You really think you might be a prophet?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I’m getting some good vibes from him.” In person as well as in my dreams. “Just let me talk to him,” I continued before Nathan formed another argument. “Alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yes, alone. I don’t want you to scare him.”
He gave me one of his almost smiles, and I knew I was getting somewhere. I took the opportunity to edge past him before he thought of a reason to stop me. Honestly, I did want to talk to Micah. I really, really desperately needed to talk to him.
I only made it a few steps before Nathan grabbed ahold of my hand and spun me around. The motion brought us closer than he had probably intended, and I saw the argument he had formed fade, replaced by something else. Something I had been waiting weeks to see.
He still wanted me.
I didn’t pull away from him. I didn’t move a muscle. I waited for his next move, readied myself for it, whatever it may be.
It wasn’t anything that I’d long hoped for. He dropped my hand and shifted, just enough to break the connection. And he was back in man-on-a-mission mode.
“Just don’t let your guard down because you have a sense,” he said gruffly, and I wondered if it was because of what had just happened or because his temper was rearing up. “If he’s really who he says he is, we don’t know what he might be capable of.”
“Nathan, I’ve got it. I can do this.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and tossed him a reassuring smile. “If it would make you feel better, you can hang out nearby, just in case I need you.”
He nodded like that had been his plan all along, whether I’d asked or not. “Just be careful, alright?”
“I will,” I said with a nod, and turned to find Micah.
It was my turn to get some answers.
CHAPTER 3
I found Micah on a bench swing, on the back patio, overlooking the snowcapped mountains. It was actually very pretty, and I took a moment to admire the
view as I approached him. When I realized I was stalling, I zeroed in on Micah with a newfound determination.
I can do this.
He looked up as I drew near, and extended the bag of potato chips he was munching on. “Want some?”
I stopped in front of him, hands on hips. No time for small talk. “Who are you?”
He set the bag down with a shrug. “I’m Micah.”
“I got that much. Who are you?”
The grin on his face begged for a bitch slap, but his next words held my hand in check. “What you mean to ask is, why are you in my dreams, right?”
I folded my arms over my chest, refusing to let him know how much his mention of the dreams unnerved me. On some level, I had hoped that they weren’t real, that they were nothing more than a byproduct of my waning sanity. But he saw them, too. He’d just confirmed what I’d long suspected, but had never quite accepted.
The whole dream thing freaked me out.
Nathan had once told me that some prophets had the ability to visit people in their dreams, but he had made it sound like it wasn’t something a lot of hybrids could do, and he’d never said anything about both people being aware of the dream. It was as if Micah and I shared our dreams. What could that mean? And why did it happen every night, regardless of whether I wanted it to or not?
In fact, I didn’t want it to.
“Come sit down,” Micah suggested softly, patting the spot beside him. “I won’t bite. Maybe we can figure some of this out together.”
I hesitated, but there was something in his eyes that reassured me. Though he was coming off as a little too cocky for my liking, I knew my instincts were right about him. They had to be. I’d dreamt it.
I had dreamt about him, and he was real. The rest had to be right, too.
I pretended to be enthralled with the view as I edged closer. Really, it was impressive, but my mind was roaming on everything but the scenery as I sat down beside Micah. None of those thoughts would form into words, however, and I sat there quietly, waiting for the right question to form.
Sacrificed (The Ignited Series) Page 2
