Another breath.
Kira held on tight to the flames swirling in those steadfast irises. Luke wasn't letting her go anywhere he couldn't follow. Like always, he was there, dragging her back to life.
Another breath.
Her heart was slowing, matching his calm pace. Her fire was settling back into her system, following the path Luke's had created, relaxing and retreating back into her core.
The shadows were there, but they weren't consuming her.
Fake flowers still tickled her nose, and she resisted the urge to cough again.
"What is that?" Kira whispered.
Luke shrugged, pulling the bottle out from underneath her nose. The sweet sugar of blood drifted back in, but Kira was in control, and she pushed it as far away as possible, focusing on the tiny bottle in Luke's fingers. It looked like perfume.
"Eau de grandmother," he told her, then winked, "works every time."
"Well, it worked this time anyway." Kira sighed and sat up, stretching her back. The scent of blood was slowly getting stronger, was calling her back.
"Luke, I have to get out of this house before the children get here."
"They'll be here any second," Luke said, looking over his shoulder and out the window to the front yard.
"It doesn't matter, anywhere is better than here."
Luke turned back around, meeting her eyes with a worried frown. Something was on his mind, something not about her. Kira sifted through his feelings, working her way around his mind. There was love, a passionate love focused on her, and a little something else. A love without lust, a love completely disconnected from her, an innocent one, a long shared devotion.
"Your brother," Kira said slowly, realization dawning. "TJ is with the kids isn’t he?"
Luke nodded, his brows furrowing deeper. "I just want to see him leave, want to make sure he gets evacuated properly. I know TJ, and I doubt he'll go without a big shove from me. He wants to be the hero, you know, the one from his stories."
He wants to be his big brother, Kira thought silently and brought her palm up to his cheek. She could do this for him, she would make it, she would give him one less person to worry about.
"Then let's stay, with your help I know I can do it," Kira said and squeezed his arm reassuringly.
Maple syrup dipped into her senses—the blood. It was getting stronger.
"Kira, they're almost here." Luke pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her, bringing his flames back to life again.
Kira ducked her head into the nook below his neck, concentrating on his hot skin against hers. She cut off the connection to her nose, trying her best not to smell him, not to give in to temptation. Luke kissed her forehead, bringing his power to full strength at the same time a fresh round of innocent, untainted blood rushed through her senses.
Kira rocked in Luke's arms, listening to his fire cackle around her.
The door creaked downstairs.
Kira gulped, swallowing down a long batch of air before clamping her lips shut and holding her breath. Lifting her hands, she covered her nose, shutting the world out entirely.
"Luke? Kira?" The singsong voice of her grandmother called.
"Keep everyone downstairs," Luke yelled back roughly.
Silence was the only response they received, silence and the faster shuffle of tiny stomping feet.
Her fingers trembled against her mouth. Her throat burned from lack of oxygen. Her arms twitched, body shaking, rejecting her plan. Spots invaded her vision.
Unable to take it any longer, Kira's entire body lurched and her lips shot open, drawing in a ragged breath. Sugar. Lollipops and gumdrops. The deliciousness of pure innocence. Nothing would be so wonderful to drain.
Moving without thinking, Kira pushed against Luke's hug, fought his hold. She need to get out, to be free, to give in, to drink.
Luke's hand slapped her chest, injecting his flames directly into her heart. A jolt of adrenaline wracked her body and Luke pushed his thoughts full force into Kira's mind. She was drowning in them, in the strength and loyalty—in the love. Drowning in a way she welcomed, because the alternative was falling, was ripping free of his arms and leaving him.
Hold on, his thoughts told her.
I love you, they said.
His fire was a warm hug, touching every part of her body and soul, so pure and so true that the shadows could do nothing but retreat, but run far away.
"Come back to me, Kira," he whispered, in a soothing voice that slowly pulled her free of him, slowly brought her back.
"Kira," he quietly said again, hugging her close and kissing her forehead, keeping it securely nestled against his shoulder.
Hesitant, scared, Kira let her nose open, let the air around drift in.
It was clear. Clean almost. She smelled the faint scent of Luke's conduit blood, but she could control that urge.
She sat up. She had made it. They had made it.
Kira turned, excited, but Luke was only half there, his eyes were only half focused on her.
"The children, they're gone, right? They made it out?" Kira asked quickly, her thoughts running quickly, trying to understand.
"They're gone," he said, patting her arm, "but…"
"But what?"
His lips wavered, struggling with the question of what to do.
"Luke, tell me."
"It's TJ," he bit his lip, "I didn't see him with the other kids."
Kira's eyes widened. How was this happening? He had to go, he had to find his brother, but… her mind slowed, selfish, but he couldn't leave her alone. Could she even do this without him?
"I'm sure he's fine," Luke said, but Kira heard the doubt pull at his words, "he's probably with my parents."
But what if he's not? Kira heard the unspoken question.
She stood, slipping from Luke's lap, giving him a way out.
"Go," she said, "go find your brother. I'll stay here. I'll be fine." Even as she said the words, the distance from Luke's body made the shadows grow.
"Kira," he said slowly.
"Luke, I mean it, that was the worst of it. I'm not going to go looking for Aldrich, and I won't leave this house. The children are gone, the rest of the conduits are out fighting. I can control myself, I promise. Go find your brother."
"He's probably with my parents—"
"But what if he's not? What if he's doing exactly what you told him not to—walking around out there, looking for a real life vampire like in his stories?" She hated to do it, but Kira refused to be babysat. She loved Luke. She wouldn't sit by and hold him back from doing what he did best, rescuing people. This was a fight she would need to end by herself.
Luke sighed. A battle raged in his eyes.
"You sure you'll be okay?" He asked, a guilty look crossed his features as he looked at her.
Kira gripped his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "I promise. I'll be right here waiting for you to get back."
He smiled, resolved, and reached up to kiss her.
"I'll be right back, I swear."
She nodded, pushing him from the room.
Luke stopped in the doorway, looking over his shoulder at her for a second, before running down the hall and out of the house.
In his absence, her limbs grew cold again. The sun went into hiding. The fire blew out.
Kira dropped to her knees, clutching her chest.
It was finally time.
Chapter Sixteen
She promised.
Kira had made a promise, and she didn't intend on breaking it. Not this time.
When Luke got back, Kira would be there waiting. Not the Kira who was a step away from madness. Not the deranged Kira who lusted for blood.
No.
A Protector Kira. A sane Kira.
Luke's Kira.
So as she dropped fully to the floor, Kira held her powers close to her heart and let the shadows come. It was time to end it. She couldn't fight the darkness any longer.
Her body jerked. Seizu
res wracked her limbs.
But Kira was beyond everything.
She was swimming through fire, riding her flames as they circled her body, holding them tightly under her skin.
Kira was searching for the source, the switch, the part of her that decided Punisher or Protector, because she was ready to say goodbye to the anger, to the kill.
So she kept pushing, deeper and deeper into her soul.
That was the story of the two angels after all. Whether they were real or myth, they were Kira. She was two people, two powers, two lives.
Well, she had chosen a path, but actually letting her Punisher's powers go? That was a different issue. That was the only factor left, the one thing holding her back. Because she had thought it would be easy, that she would decide, and naturally the other half of her would fade away.
But her decision had been set the moment Luke walked through the door, and her Punisher powers still burned inside her heart.
And the deeper she sank, the stronger everything seemed to become. Her Protector fire and Punisher flames melded together, red and yellow, dancing across her mind until everything around her was orange and there was no differentiating the two. Kira pulled at the fire, willed it apart, but it wouldn't go. It wouldn't tear.
Kira delved further, until her skin was so hot it was as though she walked on the surface of the sun itself, in a place where there were no Protectors, no Punishers, no angels, just a light so bright it would blind anyone who dared open their eyes to look.
"God?" She called, forgetting that she was speaking into her own mind. It didn’t feel that way. It felt divine. Sacred.
No response.
"Will you save me? Like you saved the originals?" She asked meekly. The words scratched her dry throat, ripping their way out of her body.
But no one was listening. No one was there.
Kira was alone. More alone than she had ever felt before.
Lost even.
So she ran, racing back the way she came, following the fire out of her heart, riding the waves until she was in her own skin. But it wasn't her own. A foreign host had taken over, black and writhing, sticking to every part of her.
Teeth dug deep into her lip.
Kira willed them away.
But they wouldn't budge.
She was turning into a vampire. For good this time.
Her body had rejected her, had kicked her out. Somehow, Kira had been pushed over the edge.
She screamed, a loud, frustrated cry.
It hadn't worked. She had been sure it would work. That choosing would be key. That her powers would obey.
But Kira had been betrayed by her own fire. Abandoned by it. Even now her fingers felt colder. Her toes were like ice.
A small smolder still lit her heart, but it was flickering, fading.
How long before it was gone?
Before she was gone?
No, Kira opened her eyes. The world was sharper around her, clearer, as though she could see even the molecules of air hanging invisible around her. She had seen like this once before, in a dream, in a life she never wanted.
Kira stood, lightning fast.
She had to get to the wall. It didn't matter that there were vampires, that Aldrich was waiting for her, ready to strike.
She was in transition and the UV radiation of the wall was the only thing that could save her.
Kira reached out with her mind, searching for Luke, wishing he could somehow hear her. But there was no wall, no connection to his mind. There was only emptiness.
So instead she whispered, "I'm sorry," knowing no one was close enough to hear. But somehow the words would find him. He would find a way to understand why she had broken her promise. He would find a way to forgive her.
But before she could run, a scent tickled her nose.
Sweet.
Innocent.
Childlike.
Kira covered her mouth, holding back the urge with sheer will. Her entire body stilled, glue to the spot while her still conscious mind waged war against the shadows clouding her judgment. She refused to turn into an animal.
A steady beat thrummed in her ears, a delicate thud, a pitter-patter of small feet, or was is the pump of a small heart?
The noise. The smell. They grew, louder, stronger, harder to ignore, until Kira's entire brain was taken over by the two senses.
But her feet held still, immobile, somehow still under her command.
"Kira?"
She sucked in a breath. She recognized that high-pitched voice, still not hit by puberty.
"Kira?"
Should couldn't turn, couldn't look at him. She would break.
"Get out of here." Kira croaked. Her voice was harsh, unrecognizable.
"It's me. TJ. Luke told me to come after the meeting, he told me to go with all the other kids. I tried to tell him I'm not a kid, that I can fight, but he wouldn't listen. But I couldn't leave, not without Patrick's teddy bear. He's my best friend, Patrick, and I know how scared he gets, I know he needs his teddy…"
Kira tuned him out. She couldn't listen to anymore. Couldn't bear the strength in his little voice. It called to her. It would taste so good, such earnestness, it would sing.
But it was Luke's brother, the part of her that was still there yelled, Luke's little brother.
Her palms twitched. Her fingers stretched, getting ready to strike.
But as she whipped around, ready to grab him by the throat, another person Kira was afraid had died awakened inside of her.
"Get out," she bellowed, screamed at TJ, instantly falling back down, crawling away from the look of confusion and fear written all over that little boy's face.
And before she knew what she was doing, Kira jumped. She pushed off of her feet, springing through the window behind her, not caring as glass cut deeply into her skin.
Instincts took over. She landed cat-like on her feet and took off at a sprint, running for the wall.
The conduits were there. Their blood swam into her senses, pushing her forward.
But another girl pushed her forward too, a conduit girl struggling to get free, pushing her toward a wall of fire that would burn her alive or save her.
Kira didn’t know which.
She just knew she had to keep running.
And she did. She flew—her feet moving faster than ever before, pounding against the pavement. Trees swished by her, blurred and barely there except for the variations of green in the peripheral of her eyes.
She saw no one. No conduit teams, no vampires. Was the battle still raging? Had someone won? Was she the only wild card left?
And then she was on the main road, charging farther and farther out of Sonnyville, closer and closer to—
Blood.
A giant pool of blood.
It drifted into her senses, pulling her forward, enticing her. Kira could sense it at the wall—conduit blood, Protector blood.
And without a doubt, she knew one taste was all it would take. One taste and she would be gone forever. But the vampire in charge of her body didn't care, had no thought except for the blood, had no goal except to drink it.
Kira was trapped. She fought against it, but her efforts were futile. She had lost control. Her only hope was that the blood lay outside the wall, beyond Sonnyville.
As she approached, her laser vision took over, zooming in on the blood, locating it.
Just beyond the wall, there was a car resting undamaged in the middle of the road. Burnt tires mixed with the sweetness of the blood, filling Kira's senses. And the blood was there, pooling next to the driver's seat, dripping free from two holes in a blond man's neck. He was leaning upside down, draped out of the car and onto the pavement, dropped there by a vampire who wanted to leave Kira a message.
The conduit inside of her screamed, cried out, prayed please no.
The vampire controlling her kept running—vision slipping in closer, focused on two puncture wounds. Her teeth ached to fill the void.
And then
the wall was there.
Kira slammed into it, lifting off of her feet, flipping over onto her back with the force of the blow. The sun dug into her. UV burned her skin until it started to flake, to crack with the heat.
Her voice cried out, whimpering in pain.
Her soul sang, triumphant.
The flames awakened inside of her heart, called out by the wall, almost like a familiar friend. The conduit inside of her started pushing, fighting the vampire away.
The blackness started budging, more resistant than usual, leaving a permanent residue inside of her limbs. Kira couldn't clear it all away. The shadows were lurking, and her fire, even with the wall, wasn't strong enough to remove them entirely.
But it was enough for the moment.
Kira was in control again.
The teeth biting into her lip shrunk, slightly at first, until they were dulled down, only somewhat sharper than normal. The strength in her arms ebbed and she dropped completely limp to the ground. Her skin, cackled from the fire, now called for the sun and began to seal closed, smooth and tanned once more.
But it was only temporary, and Kira's heart sank with the truth of that statement. Her own fire wasn't enough anymore. Her fire, which had been strong enough to kill any vampire that crossed her path, to break through their immunity even, wasn't strong enough to crush the one vampire she needed to end—the one inside of her.
Without the wall, she would fall. And there was no magic cure, no way to save herself. There was only death. Maybe that had been her only option all along—she was just too stubborn to see it.
And then Kira remembered—the boy, the car, the blood.
She stood, slowly, achingly, fighting against sore limbs. But she preferred it to the zip, to the lightning speed, because this was human—almost.
Blinking, Kira tried to bring back her vision, and it came slowly, but the world looked fuzzy. The clarity was missing. The perfect sight was gone. But she could see enough.
"Luke?" Kira cried, her mind running on overdrive. The boy in the car was dead, but was he Luke? The blond hair could look familiar. His back was to her, but his long build could be Luke's. His neck looked a little too stocky, his fingers a little too fat, his stomach a little too soft.
Scorch (Midnight Fire Series) Page 18
