So these guys weren’t Slayers. And it sounded like they didn’t like them. Did that mean…
Mike stopped short of the lake, hid behind a tree, and assessed the situation. Had Steph and Brandi seen what had happened? Surely they were watching the cameras… but they weren’t warriors. Did they even know an attack? Steph might’ve known something from being in Sparring class, but had she spent any time practicing? She hadn’t fought yet, as far as Mike remembered, and even she had admitted she was interested in medicine, not fighting…
Which meant Mike was Zachariah’s only chance.
Mike looked around for something to use. All the electricity in the vicinity was gone, courtesy of Trottingwood’s spell. There was no fire, although there was plenty of water… maybe Mike could freeze all of them in an attempt to free up Zachariah so he could get away—
Out of nowhere, black figures ran past Mike and swarmed the party. Shouts rang out from Trottingwood and his guests, and Mike froze as impromptu battle commenced. It was a melee, without any way to tell who was who. One of the newcomers was locked in combat with Trottingwood, who seemed to know a pretty solid tai-chi, or whatever it was. Another fight was taking place closer to Mike’s position. He could see the flap of a ponytail kick into the air. The other one was a guy, and there was a ferociousness about how he was fighting, almost animalistic…
The girl ducked underneath an errant punch and thrust something into her opponent’s chest. Mike jerked back as the guy’s body burst into flame, then into ash, and was carried away by the night wind.
Mike gaped.
Then he forced his gaze back to Zachariah’s old location. It was impossible to tell who was who… everyone was in black…
Save for a stocky teenager who was dressed in khaki shorts and a black t-shirt.
Who was now lying on the ground, motionless.
“No!” Mike charged, not caring who or what he was fighting. He thrust a hand out at one figure, who flew backwards twenty feet. Another person charged at him, but Mike juked to the side and went telekinesis on him, too.
By now Zachariah had gotten up. Thank the heavens above, he’s not dead. But the kid was staring around like a boxer who’d taken one too many shots to the temple. He was grabbed from behind by Sylvan, who still had the cigarette in his mouth. Zachariah wrestled with him, Sylvan’s thick arms wrapped around his neck, trying to snap it in half.
“Get off of him!” Mike extended an arm in Sylvan’s direction, concentrating on the cigarette, not caring to harness his firepower. Then there was an explosion, and a huge fireball lit up Central Park.
“No!” Mike slammed on the brakes, shielding his face from the heat. He’d used too much power—
Then to his utter relief, he saw a stout figure crawl out from underneath the fire, his t-shirt charred but not aflame. A tall, fiery body ran towards the lake, screaming, holding his face. He dove in head first. The intense heat of the blaze evaporated, replaced by a cloud of steam hovering above the water.
By now the fight started to subside. Several of Sylvan’s party began to retreat. Trottingwood was nowhere to be found. There were still a few of the newcomers chasing after Sylvan’s people, but—
Zachariah yelled, “Mike, behind you!”
Mike had no time to react. He was grabbed from behind and his head peeled backwards. Instinctively, Mike raised his arms to his neck. Sure enough, his assailant reached across with a blade, cutting at Mike’s skin. Mike grunted as he felt a sharp pain, and warm liquid ran down his forearm. He tried to slip out, but he was forced to one knee, as if the guy knew what was coming.
“Back off, or he dies.” It was his captor’s voice. A woman’s voice. Talking to Zachariah.
Zachariah raised his trembling hands. By now there were at least five or six others who had joined the woman, and they were starting to surround the two Guardians.
Where are the others? Mike thought, his arm burning. A mix of perfume and sweat clogged his senses. Marie Lu, Brandi? At least Steph? They had to know what was happening, right? And what about…
Mike slid a pinky out from his curled fist and touched it to his chest.
Yaris! Get the hell down here, what are you waiting for?
Mike heard a grunt, then a loud growl in his mind. I did not realize you were in there! The voice shut off.
The woman had since released some of the pressure on Mike’s neck. But she was still holding him firm to the ground, and keeping the knife ready underneath his wrists.
“Who are you?” she said to Zachariah. “What are you doing here?”
The woman’s voice seemed insanely familiar. Mike wracked his brains, trying to remember… was it one of the teachers at Windham? It kind of sounded like Professor Punn… but that made no sense at all…
Just then, two enormous creatures dove out of the sky, like missiles fired from an aircraft. They tackled two of the black fighters with enormous impact and pinned them to the ground. The gargoyles unsheathed their swords and raised them with murderous intent in their eyes.
Mike yelled, “Yaris, no!” The creature hesitated, then turned to look at Mike. His eyes were blood red, without pupils, a telltale sign of his fury. But even Mike could recognize the fear in them when they took hold of Mike’s position.
“Name your terms.” Yaris dropped his sword. It clanged on the concrete.
But instead of a response, something unexpected happened. The pressure from the knife subsided, and Mike was released.
“Mike?”
It took Mike a moment to turn around. When he finally did, his world stopped. His jaw fell open, as if there were no muscles in his mouth to hold it closed. His brain turned to putty, and he forgot all about the gash in his arm.
He was staring at Laura Stetson.
“Laura?”
“Mike?”
The two stared at each other for a minute, frozen in place.
“You’re a Guardian?”
“You’re a… Slayer?”
“But you’re not…” Laura’s eyes kept looking Mike up and down, as if she was missing something. “But where’s your uniform, your patch?”
“Huh?”
“What is going on here?” Yaris bellowed. He took two steps in Laura’s direction.
“You know her?” Zachariah said.
“Well, duh,” Laura sniffed, sheathing her knife in a sleeve that wrapped tight around her hips. She bit her lip. “You didn’t call, you didn’t say goodbye... you just left. And this is why?”
“No, it’s not… I mean, I wasn’t… Come on, it’s only been a few days, I’ve been trying to call—”
“Only a few days?” Laura said, the pain on her face clear enough. “You’re a Guardian, Mike! How am I supposed to date—”
Just then, Marie Lu, Brandi, and Steph came running in from over the hill on the left. They stopped short when they reached the embankment, heads on a swivel between all the parties involved.
“Where were you guys?” Zachariah said, clearly upset that only Mike had come to his defense.
“We couldn’t make out any faces,” Steph explained, her eyes flittering between Mike and Laura. “We didn’t want to charge in here without an idea of who to hit. Who is this?”
“Uh, this is Laura.” Mike fidgeted. His arm was starting to ache. “My…”
“Friend,” Laura finished quickly.
Mike stared at her. The word hung in the air between them, like a guillotine about to crash.
“Is that so.” Steph took a step in Laura’s direction.
Yaris inserted his enormous grey body between Steph and Laura, his wings almost knocking Mike over in the process. “Why did you attack us,” he demanded of Laura.
“First of all,” Laura said, hands on hips, “You were interfering in our business. The Guardians have no jurisdiction when it comes to the vampire hordes.” Laura spoke like she was making an announcement from the White House. As if she had been doing this for years.
“Second of all,” her tone gre
w cold, “You know of the history between Guardians and Slayers.”
Yaris howled at the night. “Would you prefer to fight vampires alongside the Guardians, or fight both of us by yourselves?”
“If I may interrupt,” Mike said, his brain starting to function again. Things might’ve been weird with Laura right now, but he definitely didn’t want Laura and Yaris getting into a fight.
He put a hand on Yaris’s obscenely muscular forearm, which was cold as ice. Okay, didn’t see that coming. Not the first time, won’t be the last. “All of this is irrelevant. In the pitch black, I’m sure they thought we were vampires, too.”
For a moment, nobody spoke. Then another Slayer said from the back, “He’s right. How were we supposed to know there’d be Guardians tracking vampires, too?”
Zachariah said, “We weren’t tracking vampires—”
“That’s enough, boy,” Yaris snarled in Zachariah’s direction.
Zachariah shut up, and fast.
Several of the Slayers started retreating to the far end of the lake, clearly unnerved by the whole situation. One of them gestured at Laura, and she nodded back.
“Listen, Mike, I gotta go. Don’t… don’t put yourself in that situation again, okay? I don’t want to have to finish the—”
“What do you mean,” Mike exclaimed. “Don’t put yourself in that situation again? Like I had a choice?”
Mike scrutinized Laura’s face, begging for some hint of what she was feeling. He had never seen her so… wary. He could tell she was upset… he saw a mix of anger, disbelief… but there was also something else… something like… sadness?
Laura refused to meet his gaze. “Listen, I gotta go.”
“Laura, wait—”
But she scurried away before he could finish. All Mike could do was watch her go, a sick emptiness growing in his gut.
Chapter Twenty
An hour later, the black A6 moved steadily along I-95. The girls had fallen asleep in the back, and Zachariah had his eyes on the road, the thumping of heavy metal keeping him awake. Mike wondered if the experience might’ve changed him somehow; Zachariah hadn’t opened his mouth all ride long.
Which was fine with Mike. He stared out the passenger seat window, completely sick inside, unfolding everything in his mind. Laura was a Slayer. A Slayer. Mike didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about that, but if he was supposed to hate her, it wasn’t happening. Mike found it hard to pretend she was any kind of enemy.
Instead, he was almost nauseous. Did she want their relationship to be over? Was it only because she was Slayer and he was Guardian? Or because he hadn’t spoken to her over the past few days? Mike needed to know, and not knowing was eating him up alive.
He tried to think back to when they were going out, if anything seemed strange. Had she said anything weird, done anything out of the ordinary… that would suggest she was staying out late slaying vampires? Sure, she’d declined a few party invites, but only once in a while… it wasn’t like they never hung out, or never stayed out late… there was even that one time they’d stayed at that crazy party in the city until four in the morning… Mike smiled to himself, remembering how much crap his mother had given him for that one—
At first, Mike didn’t even hear it above the pounding of the radio. But then he heard the sound again. He turned and stared at Zachariah.
“Did you just say thank you?”
Zachariah kept his eyes on the road. “You don’t have to make a big deal about it.”
Mike humphed. “But you still hate me with a passion.”
“Oh sure,” Zachariah said to the windshield. “But a favor’s a favor.”
Mike hardly thought of saving Zachariah’s life as a favor. More like something he’d do, well, just because. “You wouldn’t have done the same?”
Zachariah chuckled. “You mean charge in one on twenty? No, probably not.” Then, after a moment, “Let’s just see what Garzan has to say about this.”
“What do you mean?”
The car hit a bump. “I mean, you screwed up the job.”
“I screwed up the job?”
“Yup.”
“How did I screw up the job?”
“Yeah, I know, I got captured,” Zachariah allowed. “But I bet they’ll say you should’ve let me die rather than compromise the mission.”
Mike looked at Zachariah like he had just arrived from Neptune. “You can’t be serious.”
Zachariah scratched the stubble that was beginning to appear on his thick jaw. “Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful you didn’t. But sometimes I wonder about these guys, Stockton and Garzan. Guardians aren’t exactly well-liked, you saw it yourself. And for some reason, I feel like there are rules in play here that nobody’s told us about.”
Mike didn’t say anything. They had been dropped into a war zone without any warning. Considering they didn’t even know all this existed a few days ago, and it was pretty ridiculous.
Track Mr. Trottingwood from his home tonight, the Headmage had said. Nothing in terms of potential hazards. Did Garzan know the situation could’ve exploded like that? Be careful, Mike, you are the strongest. They are under your protection…
“So you know those people? Those… Slayers, did you call them?” Zachariah switched the station as the radio went to commercial.
Mike shook his head. “I thought I knew them. You know the girl who almost slit my throat?”
Zachariah nodded.
“That was my girlfriend.”
“What?”
Mike chuckled. “Yeah, it’s pretty insane.” He told Zachariah about the events leading up to his enrollment in Windham. It was only after he finished that he wondered why he was opening up to a guy who hated his guts.
Zachariah whistled. “How far did you get with her?”
Mike cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, how many ways you want me to say none of your business?”
Zachariah shrugged. “Suit yourself.” There was a moment of silence. “So you guys are still…”
“Doesn’t look like it, no,” Mike said softly. At least, I think she threatened to kill me next time we met. Usually not a sign of a flourishing relationship.
Although, she might’ve just been putting on a show…
Mike wondered what Laura would say if the two of them were alone. If he snuck out of Windham again, made his way to her house… would she actually try to kill him? Did she truly hate him for being a Guardian? Or would she run into his arms and kiss him, over and over, just to make sure he wouldn’t leave again? He had to know how she really felt… his insides felt like mush, and it was so damn painful…
He looked over his shoulder at Steph, who was sleeping with her head on the window. He could totally get with her, if he wanted. She made it obvious enough. And it would be the perfect revenge, the perfect rebound…
Except, he didn’t want to.
He didn’t want to “get revenge” on Laura. He wanted to figure things out, to get back together with her.
Mike rubbed his eyes. How could he even get in touch with her? If it had been nearly impossible up until now, there was no way he’d be able to do it after tonight’s incident… and now that she made a public threat against him, and now that she felt betrayed by his “secrets,” even though she obviously had some secrets of her own…
Mike scowled. Part of him was furious at her for being so secretive. Another part wanted to forgive her and pretend like nothing had happened.
Mike reclined his seat back, making sure not to infringe on Steph’s leg space, and closed his eyes.
Why was his life so freaking screwed up?
Chapter Twenty One
The students got back to the mansion at four in the morning, where Garzan greeted them personally and insisted they go straight to bed. Mike’s body and mind could not argue. They arranged to meet at nine the following evening to go over the tapes and discuss the mission.
Mike slept until about three, then took the rest of the day off – he wa
sn’t in the mood for anything, not after what had happened with Laura. He spent the day reading in the library, trying to find any and all information about Slayers and their history. Maybe he could find a loophole that would let the two of them stay together.
The books he found were totally unhelpful. They didn’t even mention anything about a fight between Guardians and Slayers. From what it sounded like, the Slayers couldn’t do magic. They were just really awesome fighters who knew their way around a graveyard. Mike wondered what had happened to set them apart, but it was clear that you didn’t have to do much to make people hate you forever around here.
At about eight, he jumped in a shower, then threw on jeans and a t-shirt and went over to the Headmage’s office to meet with the team.
“I have reviewed the video footage,” the Headmage said as soon as the five teenagers assembled. Garzan looked at Stockton, who was leaning on the bookshelf. The Magus shook his head.
“Any comments?” the Headmage asked. “Before I make my own observations, of course.”
“Why weren’t we told the Slayers would be there?” Zachariah said, a slight whine in his voice. He was still wearing his “I Crush Nerds” t-shirt. For some reason, his arm wasn’t around Annabella. Which was okay with Mike. He could do without the PDA right now.
Stockton snapped, “I don’t think you’re the one who should be questioning our judgment, Mister Zucker.”
“That’s all right.” Garzan waved a hand and shook his head. “He has a right to know.” He turned to Zachariah. “We did not tell you about the Slayers because we did not know they would be there.”
For a moment, nobody said anything. Mike peered around at his friends’ faces, trying to discern whether he was the only one who didn’t understand. Then he said carefully, “Uh, sir, with all due respect – if we were supposed to be chasing vampires, shouldn’t we have… um… suspected the Slayers would be close behind?”
“Ah, I see you’ve been doing some extra reading,” Garzan said. Mike felt his face flush, but the Headmage smiled. “Very good, Michael, but not exactly correct. Jeremiah Trottingwood is an arms procurer for the Black Brethren. He is a transporter of goods, a merchant in evil wares.” Garzan covered his mouth with a fist, and coughed. “Trottingwood has, in the past, conducted his transactions of dark materials strictly with the Brethren. As such, we did not realize Mr. Trottingwood was selling his goods to the vampires.”
The Guardian Lineage Page 12
