blood and magic 02 - kissed by fire

by Danielle Annett

  “Actually it was a two-by-four, but close enough.”

  I rubbed the ache at the back of my skull, my hand coming away with dried flecks of blood. Nothing fresh, though, and I didn’t feel any stitches, so that was a good sign. At least the damage hadn’t been worse. The splitting headache was certainly enough.

  “I’m so glad you’re alright,” a strange but familiar voice said. My vision caught on my mother. Dressed in a navy pantsuit with a peach-colored top, she looked like a prestigious businesswoman. Her hair was expertly pulled back, not a hair out of place, and her makeup flawlessly applied. She didn’t look like my mother. There was no warmth in her eyes.

  “Um, hi,” was all I was able to muster. I looked to Inarus for help and all he did was shrug his shoulders. Perfect. My mother—I mean, Viola—came closer and sat on the edge of the bed I was in. She reached out and grasped my hand in hers, her touch oddly cold and uncomfortable. The little girl inside of me wanted to leap into her arms, but the woman in me knew better. She wasn’t the mother I’d grown up with, not by a long shot. I pulled my hand from hers and folded my arms against my chest, ignoring the look of hurt that crossed her features.

  “Can we get you anything? Food, something to drink?”

  I shook my head. What I wanted were answers, but I wasn’t sure that either of us was ready for that quite yet.

  “Very well. Rest, then. We’ll talk more tomorrow when you’ve recovered. We have so much to catch up on.” We certainly did. With that, she left. It was the most awkward non-conversation I’d ever had with anyone in my life. When the door clicked behind her and Inarus and I were alone, I turned on him.

  “What the hell were you thinking, bringing me here?”

  “I was thinking that you needed medical attention and this was the best option.”

  I frowned. He was probably right, but I still didn’t like it. I swung my legs over the side of the bed. My vision swam for several seconds.

  “Whoa, take it easy.”

  “I need to get out of here.”

  “No, you need to rest.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and gently nudged me back. I glared at him.

  “You brought me to what, my mother’s freaking headquarters? Do you have any idea how weird that is?”

  “Yes, I do, and I’m sorry about that, but you needed to come face to face with her sooner or later.”

  So what? Didn’t mean it had to be now. I was an expert at avoiding my problems, and my mother was one big ole problem that I was ready and eager to avoid.

  “It wasn’t your place.”

  He shrugged his shoulders, unfazed. Jerk.

  “Look, why don’t you just stick around for a while? You’ve already gotten past the whole awkward meeting with your long-lost mother. It can’t get any worse, and besides, what do you have to lose?”

  My sanity, for one. That was something I was very likely to lose if I stuck around. How was I expected to deal with something like this? My phone began to buzz in my jeans and I quickly dug it out. Declan’s name flashed across the screen, and without any thought, I sent the call to voicemail. I then realized I had eleven missed calls from him in the last twenty minutes. What the hell?

  I pulled up my voicemail and listened to his most recent message.

  “Aria, what the hell happened? I know you were hurt, I felt it. Just…call me back.” He sounded strained. I hadn’t realized how deep the bond went. I’d hoped that with distance, it would lessen.

  I debated just deleting the messages and turning my phone back off, but I had a feeling that all it would do was put him on a manhunt, and I had no desire to be his quarry, so instead I did the next best thing. I sent him a quick text letting him know I was fine. That it was a minor injury and nothing to worry about and to please give me some space. After that, I powered my phone down and shoved it back in my pocket. It was cowardly, but at least I’d been a grownup and told him I was okay. It didn’t mean I was ready for a conversation, though. See, expert at avoiding my problems.

  I turned back to Inarus and really considered what he’d said. If I left now, what would she think? Would she even care? I wanted her to care. I also wasn’t ready to go back to the Compound, not yet. Maybe this could be a good thing after all. Irina was still on the loose. I had her to deal with as well, but I knew now that she was responsible for Daniel’s death, and I knew that she’d been working with the HAC and PsyShade in some capacity. Maybe if I stuck around, I’d be able to dig up more. See how deep things really went and see just how dirty my own mother’s hands were.

  A part of me debated calling Rebecka. It didn’t sit right with me, knowing Irina was out there doing God only knew what, but I also knew that Rebecka would be quick to act—assuming she even believed me—and I still had questions that needed answering.

  “Fine, I’ll stay. But not for long. This is entirely temporary.” He seemed satisfied with the response, and this time when I swung my legs over, he didn’t bother stopping me. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to just lie in bed all day, though. Why don’t you show me around or something?”

  Inarus seemed to perk up at the idea and took me on a tour of the facility. It was strange walking side by side with him. Someone I’d decided was the enemy. Calling him the enemy didn’t sit entirely right, either, but there really wasn’t any other word for it. He wasn’t one of the good guys, no matter how good his act. Maybe he’d just been brainwashed by all of this and needed someone to show him the error of his ways. A girl could hope.

  Inarus showed me to several common areas, a recreational room, eating quarters, and what appeared to be an indoor park. I’d never seen so much plant life indoors before, but the green space, as he called it, was breathtaking. The floor was coated in lush grasses and moss, with several large willow trees scattered throughout. There were tulips and daisies and smatterings of wildflowers littered throughout, and the sound of running water could be heard, though I didn’t know where it was coming from. The air was mildly humid; it felt like summer. I could spend hours just sitting on one of the large boulders, taking in the scenery and reading a book. This would be a great space to meditate in.

  “How is this even possible?” I asked as Inarus led me farther in.

  “The green space is maintained by our phytokinetics. They’re psykers like you and me, but their abilities are in plant manipulation.”

  I leaned down to touch a red fern, the leaves soft between my fingertips. “This is surreal.”

  “It can be pretty amazing when you first experience it, but you get used to it. Psykers can do all sorts of amazing things; you’ve just been sheltered for far too long.”

  “Will I be meeting any others?” I asked, curious about these phytokinetics who’d created such an amazing space. It reminded me of the story of the secret garden by Frances Burnett and Sandra Gilbert. My father use to read it to me when I was a child. The green space felt so magical, like I’d just walked through a hidden wardrobe that housed a magical portal.

  It felt as though it were too good to be true.

  “Follow me, I can see Kieran from here.”

  I allowed Inarus to lead me down a winding path that led us to a small stream feeding into a pond. “How did this get here?” I asked.

  “Hydrokinetics.”

  I nodded; it made sense. They had phytokinetics to maintain plant life and hydrokinetics to manipulate the water. It was all so breathtaking. We crossed a small wooden bridge and approached a man doing a crane pose. His body was unmoving. There were no tremors in his arms, no sign of discomfort from the exercise. His body moved fluidly as he transitioned from the crane pose to a supported headstand. I still struggled with the tree pose and that was beginner yoga. I took a moment to study him as we neared, taking in his russet-colored hair that was currently plastered to his cream-colored skin. A thin sheen of sweat coated his exposed arms. He wore a sleeveless linen shirt and pants in an aqua color, bright against the greenery surrounding him. His movements appeared effortless though I knew
from experience that yoga only appeared to be easy when in truth, it was quit difficult and took a significant amount of dedication and patience.

  He seemed to fit within the space well. He slowly lowered his legs before pushing from the earthen floor to stand. The buzzing in my head at his presence felt different than it did with Inarus. I didn’t know how to describe it, but he had his own sound. When Inarus was near, the buzzing in my mind was faint and constant, like a bee. But with the man before me, the buzzing was in short bursts, like the vibration on my cell phone. It was a constant start-and-stop rhythm and was harder to tune out.

  It didn’t take long for my attention to shift from the buzzing. I found myself swimming in twin orbs of rich moss. His eyes seemed to change the longer I looked into them. Altering between shades of green and rich browns as though they couldn’t decide what color they wanted to be. A wide smile spread across his face, and I realized I’d been staring and quickly looked away.

  “Hi, you must be Aria,” he said, extending his hand. I nodded and shook his hand in response. “I’m Kieran, it’s nice to meet you.” I wondered how he knew my name. Maybe Inarus mentioned me at some point.

  Inarus placed his hand around my shoulder in what I’m sure he hoped was a casual move, but I saw it for what it was. He was claiming me in front of Kieran, and I wasn’t okay with it. I’d been claimed enough without my consent as it was. I shrugged out from under his arm and took a step towards a nearby tree.

  “Are you the one responsible for all of this?” I asked, indicating the tree and everything else around.

  “Not entirely, but I’m one of three who work to maintain it.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I told him, and I meant it. It reminded me of the Hoh Rainforest in western Washington. The tree canopy was thick and flourishing, making it easy to forget that we were inside of an actual building.

  “Thank you.” He inclined his head but didn’t say anything further.

  “Kieran is a man of few words,” Inarus told me. Kieran didn’t seem offended by the remark. I smiled at him as Inarus led me farther into the green space, and I found myself fascinated by what Kieran had been able to accomplish.

  “There are others here that you can meet too, if you’d like.”

  My gaze met his, and in it I saw so much hope. I almost felt bad knowing that it didn’t matter how many people I met or how many amazing spaces he showed me. I wouldn’t be staying long term. I didn’t belong here. Lately I was feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere.

  “I’d like that,” I said, ignoring the pang of guilt in my chest.

  Wandering the halls of the HAC was not like I’d expected. In addition to the green space we’d just walked through, there was an atrium unlike anything I’d seen before. The ceiling was comprised entirely of glass, filtering light through the room, but what was most impressive were the metal objects lining the floor. Spheres in varying sizes were scattered throughout the room. Some on concrete surfaces that were no larger than grapes, while others were significantly larger in size, standing taller than both me and Inarus.

  “Any guess as to what this room is?” he asked.

  “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say this is where telekinetics like yourself spend their time.”

  He nodded and pulled out the three metal spheres he carried in his pocket, allowing them to hover over his palm while spinning counterclockwise.

  “You’d be right. This is a training room of sorts for Tks.”

  “Why spheres?” I asked.

  “Because it’s much cooler than bending metal spoons.”

  I had to laugh. “So the green space isn’t really just a cool garden, is it?”

  He shook his head. “No, differing designations have their own areas where they can push their abilities. The phytokinetics, geokinetics, and hydrokinetics share the green space, telekinetics have the atrium, the aerokinetics have the aerie—I’ll show that to you later—and the electrokinetics have the den, which is in the basement.”

  “Why the basement?”

  “Electrokinetics deal in electric currents and energies. Their abilities have the tendency to short-circuit our power systems, so they work deep below ground where they’re less likely to cause significant changes to our main power structure.”

  “Are those the only designations there are?” I asked. I knew there was at least one other—my own, pyrokinetics. But maybe there weren’t any others like me within the HAC. The thought was disappointing. I had so many questions I wanted answered. It would have been nice to pick the brain of another psyker with my abilities, maybe get some advice on how to control the pressure when it felt like it was becoming too much.

  “No, there are others. Pyrokinetics like yourself, though their space is being renovated. Jax and Cael went a little overboard a few weeks ago,” he said, a wide grin on his face as he remembered the events. “They did a good deal of damage, so we’re working on rebuilding the hot rooms to withstand their abilities. There are others, too, but not within the HAC.”

  The idea of meeting others like me, of coming face to face with Jax and Cael, had me practically chomping at the bit, but I did my best not to appear too excited.

  “What other designations are there?”

  “Chronokinetics, for one, though I can’t say I’ve ever met one. Rumor is that they exist, but I honestly wouldn’t know, and despite what we can do, I have a hard time believing that someone out there has the ability to mess with time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Sorry,” he said. “I forget you’re still so new to all this. Chronokinetics can go back in time as well as into the future. From what I’ve been told, they can usually only do one or the other. But like I said, I have a hard time believing that their designation even exists.”

  I did too, and honestly, I didn’t think anyone should have that ability. If I thought my abilities in the wrong hands could be a problem, chronokinetic abilities in the wrong hands could be catastrophic.

  “Technokinetics exist, though. They merge their minds with machines. It’s pretty amazing if you ever run into a technokinetic, but they tend to be anti-social, spending more time with machines than man.”

  It was all so much to take in. Not long ago, I’d believed I was a rarity, never having run into others like me, and now there were so many possibilities.

  “Will I be meeting Jax or Cael?” I asked.

  He frowned for a moment. “Cael is on an assignment,” he said, “but Jax should have returned from his already, so yeah, you’ll likely be meeting him.”

  “Assignment? What do those entail?”

  He looked uncomfortable by my question, his hand closing over the three metal spheres in his palm before shoving them into his pocket once more.

  “It’s not really important,” he said before turning away and exiting the atrium.

  “That’s rather vague, don’t you think?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. I could tell he wasn’t going to give me anything further and I honestly couldn’t really blame him. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t spill all the beans right out the gate either, so I let the topic drop. For now. If I gave him some time and gave the impression of being open to the idea of the Human Alliance Corporation, maybe then he wouldn’t be so tight-lipped about things.

  As we made our way down the halls, I noticed a man walking toward us.

  “Who’s this?” he asked Inarus as he approached, suspicion stamped across his face. I looked down at my black boots, grey yoga pants, and short-sleeved tee. I looked like your average twenty-something girl. What was there to be suspicious about?

  He on the other hand looked like he’d just walked out of a tomb raider movie. Dressed in black cargo pants, a black tank top, and some serious military style boots, he looked like he was ready to take on the world. I took an involuntary step back. His eyes caught the movement and a sly smile spread across his face.

  “Aria, I’d like you to meet Aiden. He’s another Tk.”

  �
��Don’t make me sound so interesting,” he chided. The buzz in my head was faint. Not what I’d expected standing by two other psykers.

  “Aria, nice to meet you.”

  His smile grew into a leer and I fought to hold his gaze. Asshole. He was trying to unnerve me.

  “So what do you do here with the HAC?” I asked, ignoring the tension between us. Inarus gave me a sharp look, but Aiden didn’t notice.

  “Oh, you know, the usual. A little mischief here, a little mayhem there.” I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not, and from the expression on Inarus’s face, neither could he.

  “Well, uh, that’s interesting,” I said.

  He laughed, a deep maniacal sound that grated along my senses. “I’m kidding. I was just dropping off some supplies to one of our hospitals.”

  “Your hospitals?” I wasn’t aware that the HAC had any hospitals, at least not in the area. In Spokane, we had three main hospitals—if you could even call them that—that still stood. Sacred Heart, Deaconess, and Holy Family. The others had been destroyed shortly after the Awakening, and without state funding, they’d never had their doors reopened. The three that still stood were more like testing facilities. Humans still frequented them for minor ailments, but most of the doctors had no real medical education and oftentimes, a patient would go in and never come back out. If you were anything other than 100% normal, everyday human, it was best to avoid them. I, for one, had no desire to become anyone’s science experiment.

  “Yeah, Inarus hasn’t told you yet? Our organization funds several hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. I was just dropping off some vaccinations for the children’s hospital in Wenatchee. Those little kiddos are great; I had to pry them off my legs on my way out. You wouldn’t even know any of them were sick.” I had a hard time picturing a bunch of kids warming to the soldier before me. There wasn’t any other word I could think of to describe him. On second thought, he reminded me more of a mercenary, which was an insult to my occupation, but I couldn’t picture him standing on any front lines to depend the free folk. The hospital in Wenatchee could very well be like the ones we had here and the vaccines he’d dropped off might be more experimental than preventative.