CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1)

by McMann, Laney

  "Teaming up with the Nefarius, I hear, as well? And I thought you hated each other." Cole smirked. "You need to be better about keeping me in the loop. The Nefarius we tracked were full of information. Until I killed them. Are these two gurgulio still in training?" He gestured toward the gargoyles. "I would hate for anything...regrettable to happen to them this evening...fighting so young." Cole held the Draconis' red-eyed, unfaltering stare. "Are you sure they're ready? Because I also have a job to do." He glanced over his shoulder toward the second-story windows.

  "The girl is not yours to protect."

  Both crystal blades slipped from the inner sleeves of Cole's jacket, and rested, concealed, against his palms. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

  The Draconis sighed. "For some reason that I do not fully understand, I like you, Mr. Spires. So, this will be my last warning. Please. Step. Aside. We all have our rules to uphold, and the girl is not one of your own."

  Cole couldn't stop the genuine smile that spread across his face, or the words that spilled from his mouth, and in that moment, he didn't want to.

  "She is now."

  ***

  Kade was shaken awake from a sound sleep. Her alarm clock read ten thirty-three P.M. The floor rumbled, her leftover soda from the burger place on Saturday night tipped off the night table and splatted onto the floor. Another rumble, and her bed shifted a few feet, the legs scratching against the wood floor. Kade shot up, swaying on unsteady feet.

  Earthquake.

  “Dad!" She bolted out of her bedroom. The house shook again. "Dad. Wake up." His bedroom was empty. “Dad!"

  A loud crack reverberated through the house. Down the stairs, she ran. Through the kitchen, the living room, back up the stairs.

  "Dad." Energy radiated out of her, unbidden and riddled with fear. Where are you?

  Bolting back into her bedroom, whitish light illuminated the space, turning it from dark to daylight. Kade opened the window blinds all the way and let out a breath.

  Waves of energy quivered in every direction over the tree tops, the air moving in fluid motion, like ripples across the surface of a glassy lake.

  Impossible.

  Not an earthquake.

  Something worse.

  She yanked her boots on, her coat, made for the stairs, and threw the front door open. Her dad's truck was gone. Energy streamed through the trees like a laser light display gone wrong. Silver, gray, lavender, and red ribboned out in every direction, illuminating the entire sky. It reminded her of video footage she'd seen of the Aurora Borealis over Alaska, except the colors were wrong. A surge of energy echoed with a grumble, and Kade ran for the woods, boots sinking into the snow. Frozen tree limbs and underbrush reached for her face, clothes, and the thin fabric of her pajama bottoms. She stopped at the top of a hill, and the cold air invaded her lungs.

  As if the strobe lights from Crystalline had infiltrated the mountains, a clearing below was awash with fluttering color. Glimpses of red flashed among the white trees, a stench she knew too well overwhelmed her senses, and Kade backed up.

  "There you are. I have been looking for you." The low, raspy voice rang in her head like it always did. Trees limbs shook ahead of her, snow falling to the ground, and deep, reddish-black wings took shape. Horns and taloned feet and hands followed, and smoke from the demon's wide mouth puffed around his head. Dracon.

  Kade took another step back, and then another, energy building in her core, and her shoulders squared up against a tree. "Leave me alone."

  Colored lights continued flitting through the clearing. Dark shapes moved below. Something lay motionless in the snow.

  "But you are my treasure. My reason."

  Kade shook her head, and a shout tore through the woods, followed by a scream. The lights vanished, and an oppressive silence pressed in.

  "Well, I am sorry to see him go. I rather liked the Primori."

  Kade wasn't listening. She'd heard that word before. Several times. Primori. The old race. Celestial Children. Descended from the ancient gods. Guardians. Dracon had been one once, he'd told her when she was young, but she thought he'd been lying. The Primori were good. That was all Dracon needed to say for Kade to know he'd never been one of them. He said he'd turned his back on them to fight for a bigger cause. A better cause.

  The demon extended a taloned hand, breaking Kade's train of thought. "I have allowed you time and kept my distance so that you could adjust, but now we must go."

  "I'm not going anywhere with you."

  "You know the repercussion of that action." Dracon grasped her arm, and Kade yanked, but his grip was too strong.

  A swooshing sound touched her ears, and a sharp screech rang from the clearing. Movement caught her periphery, so quick she almost missed it, but she was sure she'd seen something.

  "I smell you, Dracon," the voice was strained, winded, and vaguely familiar. "Did you decide you wanted to join in now?" The voice moved closer. "You can take the place of the gurgulio. I don't think they liked our game. I warned you that might happen. They were fast, though, I'll give you that. Just not as fast as me."

  A deep growl rolled from Dracon's throat, and he turned toward the empty clearing. "Primori, you are testing my patience."

  "And you're testing mine."

  Dracon swirled to the right, not letting Kadence go, and another quick glimpse of movement caught the corner of her eye through the falling snow.

  "You didn't tell me we had a mutual friend." Cole stepped from the trees, as silent as a ghost, eyes alight as if a fire blazed behind them. He grinned like he was out for a midnight stroll. What the hell was he doing there?

  "We do not have a mutual friend. Kadence belongs to me."

  "Belongs?" Cole glanced at her, eyebrows raised. Kade's eyes widened with fear, and shame. He would see her. The real her. He would know. She averted her eyes." Call me old fashioned," Cole said. "But I don't like the way that sounds. And I could be wrong, but I think Kadence agrees with me." She didn't meet his eyes. Couldn't.

  "Where is your Beta? Please do not tell me my gurgulio destroyed him." Dracon grinned.

  Danny dropped from a tree like a stalking cat, his green eyes sparkling in the dark. "Nope."

  "I told you before," Cole leaned against a barren tree, "we have a spot open for the game we're playing. Maybe I should've clarified. That translates to: the gurgulio are dead." He held the demon's hard stare. "But you can take their place and test your own luck if you'd like. Think of it as roulette."

  Kade's mouth dropped open. He killed something?

  "It's been a damn long couple of nights for me and Danny," Cole continued. "You can't imagine, so if we could make this simple, and you let go of Kadence's arm...it's turning blue, and I'm not a doctor, but that's not normal, we could call it a night. I, for one, could use some sleep." He stretched, and his jacket raised, exposing muscled ridges on his bare stomach.

  Kadence stared, which was completely inappropriate considering the circumstances. He seemed so relaxed. As if this was a normal Monday night for him. Dracon's grip loosened slightly around her arm.

  "As much as I like you, young Alpha, I am afraid we have come to a crossroad we cannot return from."

  "I'm afraid you're right." With a movement so swift, Kade almost missed it, Cole swiped his hand through the air.

  A blast of frigid snow swept over the forest like a reverberating tidal wave, consuming the silence with a deafening roar. Kade was shoved back. The ground rumbled underneath her feet as if it were cracking apart. Dracon's grip loosened, and she yanked hard and ran. Raw power stampeded through the woods like a tornado. She swerved through the deadly maze of falling snow in a blind panic, the wind screaming at her back. Trees swayed precariously, bending sideways. Dry pine needles careened in all directions, sharp tips acting as miniature darts, pinging off her face and arms. Her legs sunk into snow, and she struggled to run, but couldn't pick up speed. An arm grabbed her from behind. A hand covered her mouth, stifling her scream.

>   "Stop." Hands grasped her flailing arms and pressed them against her sides. "Kadence." Wide eyes stared into her own, and she immediately fell still. Cole pressed a finger to his lips, and pulled her behind a clump of bushes. "I'm sorry I scared you. Stay silent."

  She stared at him, mute with shock. He knows Dracon. Knows him. How is that possible? "Wha-what are you doing here?" It was all that came out of her mouth.

  "I thought I owed you for what you did at Crystalline. Even if I didn't need your help.” Cole grinned.

  There was still the unshakable truth that he had been the one to destroy the Shadows at Crystalline, an idea Kade had yet to give more than two minutes thought. It was completely insane. Except that it wasn't. All she had to do was look in the mirror to know that monsters existed in the world.

  She was one of them.

  The storm continued, tree roots tearing from the ground with ripping, popping sounds. Cole peeked out from behind the bushes. "I'll be right back."

  “Wait!" Kade grabbed his arm. "Why are you helping me?"

  He tilted his head to the side and there was a tenderness about the motion. A realness. "Because you need my help."

  "But—" I'm a monster, and you shouldn't.

  "Stay here for a minute." He moved away from her again.

  "No... I—"

  "I have to help Danny." He held her fearful gaze. "Everything will be okay. I won't let Dracon hurt you."

  Kade nodded, unable to say what she needed to say. You don't understand. You can't help me, no one can. "It was you," she said. "You killed the Shadow Saturday night at Crystalline."

  He grinned. "I did. They're the Nefarius. Guardians of the Nocturnal Gates. But you were holding your own pretty well for someone who doesn't know what she’s doing." He waved a hand through the air, like she'd seen him do a few seconds before, and the wind increased.

  What the? How in the hell...

  A quick, playful smile graced his lips, as if this was fun, and Kade noticed his eyes were almost black. Just like they’d been on the sidewalk in front of Crystalline. As if something lurked behind them. "You're staring at me again." He smirked. "I'll be right back."

  “Wait!" Kade grabbed his arm.

  "You're kind of demanding, aren't you?” She let go.

  “What are you?" The forbidden words spilled out, words she was never supposed to breathe, but she couldn't stop them. She'd never met anyone like him. Someone who could see the things she could see. Someone who maybe would understand, know what she was going through. The kind of life she'd been living. Hiding from everything all the time, lying, pretending, having no real friends, no real life.

  Cole gazed at her, and there was such a strong intimacy behind it her cheeks warmed. "I'm a Primori. Like you. We guard the Planes from Daemoneum threats." He found her hand and squeezed. "You can trust me."

  She gazed at him in star-struck awe. He was one of the Celestial Children. Born of the ancient gods. Not of this world, but another Plane entirely. Dracon had told her the truth. That alone shocked her into complete silence.

  Cole squeezed her hand again and raced from the bushes, nothing more than a red blur through the trees.

  No, wait. Wait! She wanted to scream it. No...that's...that's not what I am. You just...can't see it.

  Another reverberation of energy rushed through the trees forcing her to grip the bush at her back. Fingers clawed freezing branches, but the wind was too strong. It picked her up, and slammed her on the ground. Her head hit rock. Snow and pine needles blew over her, burying her in frigid powder. Tree tops merged overhead, only a slice of the dark, star speckled sky shining through the slits in her eyelids, and everything silenced to a dim, faint hum.

  In a daze, she remembered her dad standing in front of her when she was five years old. Kade had knocked Scott Nelson off his bike without even touching him after he'd tried to run over her cat. An odd current had flowed through her body that day, as though she'd stuck her finger into an electrical socket, and the next thing she knew, Scott had been blown backward through the air, and his bike was on top of him when he landed in the driveway. She'd had no idea how it happened.

  Her dad had run out the front door and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her inside the house. "You can't ever do that again. You're very special, Kadey. You have a gift. But no one can know. Just you and me. It's very important. Can you do that?"

  "Okay, I won't do it again. I'm sorry."

  "That's my big girl." He'd smiled but it hadn’t reach his eyes. "Now, go help Scott up and tell him you're sorry, too."

  "I'm not telling him sorry." Kade had run out of the house. Scott stood, glaring at her from the sidewalk, but she didn't care. "Don't you dare get near my cat again, or next time, I'll send you and your bike up into a tree." She'd stomped back inside and slammed the door.

  Two days later, Kade's face morphed into the monster. She remembered screaming as her dad tried to calm her down.

  The Draconis made his first appearance soon afterward.

  “My name is Dracon," he'd told her, but he hadn't spoken out loud. His voice had been inside her head. "You mustn't be afraid. I am one of the Devil's Children."

  Kade had thought she was having a nightmare. Until he came back.

  They'd moved days later and had barely stopped since.

  Kade's eyelids opened in a haze of white and green. A wash of pure, vibrant red followed. It was an angry color, she thought. On another groggy blink, she was unsure why she was lying in the snow. It felt nice underneath her body, though. The cold was peaceful. Calming. A slight throb thudded at the base of her skull, and Kade thought she should touch it, but her arm didn't want to move. A soft swoosh touched her ears. Footsteps crunched through ice. Probably Dracon coming to finish her off, she thought with a deranged chuckle.

  She knew she should try to move, to get up, fight, or see clearly, but it didn't seem too important. She liked the snow. The cold blanket snuggling around her body, holding her tight.

  “Kadence?" someone yelled. “What the hell..." A face blurred above her, but she couldn't make out the details, and words wouldn't reach her lips. "Are you hurt?" A warm hand touched her cheek, her forehead. “Danny!"

  The crunch of feet running through snow touched her ears, and snow being scooped and thrown.

  "What the—I knew this was a bad idea."

  "I didn't ask you to follow me."

  More shoveling.

  "Like I wouldn't have followed you?"

  "Will you shut up and help me dig!”

  Kade's body shifted to the side. "I've got you." Warmth rushed down her back, through her frozen limbs, and she was lifted off the ground. "I've got you.” The scent of sweet, clean cotton enveloped her senses. “It's okay, you're okay."

  "Calm down, Cole. I'm sure she's fine."

  Cole. It was his voice she'd heard. A brisk wind swept her cheeks, and she was flying. She knew she was. Nothing else could move so fast.

  ***

  "I can't believe this is happening." Danny paced. "We're breaking so many rules being here."

  "Will you shut up and help me find it? She's freezing." Cole touched Kadence's face and placed a hot cloth over her forehead.

  "We couldn't find an elephant in this mess. Look at it." Danny thrust his hand toward Kade's bedroom floor, covered in boxes.

  "I can't tell if she has a fever or what. She keeps shivering. And there's a huge bump at the base of her skull." Cole withdrew his crystal and placed it into Kade's palm. Warmth trailed up his arm, piercing pain shot through his hand, and Kade's back arched as she cried out. Cole yelped and yanked his hand away from hers, stumbling backward into the wall, as the crystal dropped to the floor.

  "Turn on the lamp. The small one.”

  "What are you doing?" Danny hissed.

  "Oh, my god.” Cole got to his feet. "Look at her hand."

  Danny lifted Kade's arm, glancing at her palm. "You said she was carrying a crystal at the club!”

  "She was." Cole stared
, his tone flat.

  "You must have been seeing things."

  "I wasn't. I picked it up off the floor and handed it to her. I told you that."

  "I told you we should've minded our own damn business. Gone back to the common house and went to bed." Danny paced again. "Now what?"

  "Go put out any fires with Plumb. I'll meet you there later."

  "Hell, no, Cole. Are you insane?"

  "You want me to leave her like this, Dan?" He thrust his hand out.

  "Like what, exactly? This could be perfectly normal for...for someone like her for all we know."

  "Comatose? Really, Dan? Comatose is normal? Are you freaking kidding?"

  "Cole—" Danny started.

  "Alert the Ward."

  "Alert the Ward?" Danny's eyes went wild. "You're out of your damn mind."

  "Tell them where I am. Send the doctor for Kadence."

  "Tell them where you are? Could this night get any worse?" His hands flew up.

  "Just do it, Danny."

  "No way. No freaking way. I can't just leave—this is—"

  "Go."

  "Is that an order?"

  "Does it need to be?" Cole's tone had a sharp bite in it.

  Danny let out a harsh sigh. "No, sir."

  "Don't call me sir.”

  Danny stomped out of the bedroom, and Cole sat on the bed next to Kade, staring at her open palm.

  ***

  Warmth wrapped around Kade's shivering body like a fleece blanket, secure and safe, and the steady sound of deep breathing filled her ears. Her body felt heavy, exhausted, and her hand pulsated as if all the blood had flooded to one spot on her palm. Electric shocks filtered into her fingertips. She tried to curl her hand into a fist, stop the sensation, but sleep held her hostage.

  Something heavy and warm molded against the side of her body, and the sweet scent of fresh laundry and fire overcame her senses. Breathing it in, her body began to heat up.

  "You're safe now," someone whispered. "Sleep."

  ***

  Cole had never been more awake. He'd tried adjusting his weight, shifting himself further up on the bed so he wasn't lying down, but it was no use. His head remained propped against the wooden headboard, but the rest of him had slid downward. The backs of his eyelids were akin to sandpaper from keeping his eyes open, but he couldn't have slept if he'd wanted to.