Marked by Courage

by W. J. May

  “I’ll go talk to him.” She stood and left without another word, almost running through the house. When she was with Liam, she trusted that he would stop her if she ran to her mother’s bedroom, to where the woman lay defenseless and asleep. Her mom had come home an hour ago, taken one look at Liam, and went straight to her room, locking the door behind her.

  What had she done? Kallie could almost hear the blood pulsing in her mother’s veins; smell the fear that would curl seductively through the air as Kallie hunted the woman. She wanted it.

  She was a monster. Swallowing, Kallie knocked on the door to the basement and descended the stairs, aware of her body moving much too smoothly and easily.

  “Why is the Blue still here?” her father asked without preamble.

  “The Blue is Liam, and he’s still here because he’s the one who helped me rescue you, who tracked down where Caleb is, and who’s going to help me save my maker.” Kallie heard the words come out like a whip crack.

  Her father blinked, his face taking on a wary look. “I see.”

  “Do you? Because he does. He understands that I’m loyal to you and Caleb, and also to him—but do you understand?” She shook her head. “I don’t think you do.”

  “How can I understand?” he hissed at her finally. There was a challenge in that hiss, but it was not for her. “My blood is boiling with the need to go up there and end him. He’s my enemy.”

  “He isn’t!” Kallie shot back. “If you would just see—”

  “See what? You think I can control the part of me that tells me to hunt Blues?”

  “Maybe!”

  “Kallie, don’t even dream—”

  “Of what used to be?” Kallie asked him softly. She was no longer a child.

  “What?”

  “Liam told me—”

  “He would.”

  “Listen to me!” Kallie slammed her hands down on his desk. “He told me about how much has been lost. There used to be other Hybrids, didn’t there? There used to be Hybrids and Hunters and day-walkers, and we lost all of it. We’re all that’s left of what was once an empire.”

  “Kallie, those are just stories.” Her father shook his head. “You don’t understand. Liam tells you he accepts this because he has no choice. Your maker is a Red, your father is a Red, and your mother is one of the most powerful witches in the world, if not in history— and a Red. He has no choice but to say he understands.”

  “Not true.” Kallie felt fear tug at her, and she shook her head. “He could leave. He and the other Blues could run, and yet he stays.”

  “Because he knows what you are, and he knows you could help the Blues return to power,” her father said brutally.

  “He’s being kind! He offered me a place to stay tonight. He’ll take the couch, if you want to know.”

  “You think I care?” Her father sank his head into his hands. “I mean, of course I care. You’re my daughter, Kallie. No matter how many centuries we both live, you’ll still be my little girl. But, Kallie, you’re a vampire now. We’re in a war for our lives, and Liam…he’s a complication you don’t need, tempting you down a path where none of the people you say are your allies can follow. Don’t go with him tonight. You don’t understand what you’re doing.”

  “I understand that as long as I stay here, I can smell mom.” Kallie heard her voice rasp out, pain in every syllable.

  “Oh, hell.” Her father looked up at last. “I’d forgotten. This is your first… Go. Go, then.” He flicked his wrist as if to get her out of the house.

  She thought of all the nights and days her father had been here with them. Not once had she felt they were in danger. “Can you be here alone with her?”

  “Kallie…” He got up and came around the desk to hug her. “I’ve been through a lot. I’ve held out, and I’ll keep doing so. Don’t worry about me. But, sweetheart, do something for me.”

  She looked up at him wordlessly.

  “Don’t tell him about what you are, or what you may be.”

  “Dad—” How did she tell him that Liam already knew? Her own eyes betrayed her.

  “Please. Just for now, if that’s an easier promise.” He sounded bitter, and tried to smile. “Just until I know whether you are what I think.”

  “Okay.” She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, then checked her watch. “I should go. Dad…?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re wrong about Liam.” She left before he could say anything more, taking the stairs to the main floor two at a time. She found Liam waiting at the top of the stairs.

  “Come on. We don’t have much time.” He jerked his head toward the door, and they slipped out into the night.

  It was barely an eye blink and they were at his house. Fast as they were, Kallie still kept her body on high alert. She felt noteworthy, suddenly, like she did when she wore short dresses or lipstick, as if someone might stop her and ask why she was daring to wear those things when she wasn’t a cool, confident woman. She couldn’t believe now that she’d ever been worried about that. Her problems had been so small before. “No one saw us?” she asked worriedly.

  “No. No whiff of a Red.” Liam checked the light-blocking shades and looked over at her. “Except you, of course. It’s…insane. You smell like a Red, but I don’t want to kill you. Which is quite a relief, let me say.”

  Kallie shrugged, her lips curving without humor.

  “You’re still upset.”

  “I made this choice and it seemed so simple.”

  “Simple?” His eyes were wide.

  “Yes!” Her shout echoed in the house and she sank her face into her hands. “They were killing my father a little more each month. Whatever Petra thought she was doing to protect him—if she ever was—it wasn’t enough. He was going crazy, Liam. He was going to snap. I needed to help him. It was as simple as that.”

  “And now you realize it wasn’t so simple, after all.” He sighed.

  “I’m never going to be able to see my friends again. What am I even going to tell them?”

  “You tell them that you’re sick, until you have the strength to meet them in person. Then you begin to fade away slowly.”

  “But I don’t want to give them up!” The cry brought tears to her eyes.

  “I know you don’t. But whether or not you see it now, there’s nothing more you have in common. You’ll get a little more distant every year. Soon they’ll start to wonder why you aren’t aging. You have to cut it off before then.”

  “I don’t want to.” Kallie dropped her hands as she sat down on Liam’s couch. “I’m never going to get a degree. I’m never going to be a journalist, or…or anything. They ask you what you want to be when you grow up, and you never think to say that you want to be alive, or be able to go out in the sunshine, and…” She felt the tears start. “I thought I said goodbye to all of that, but I don’t think I did.”

  When she looked up, Liam’s pity was almost too much to take. He did not even try to reassure her. He knew better than that. She would never feel sunlight on her skin again, and he knew how much it cost her.

  “You’re going to tell me you’ve been through all of this,” she said bitterly.

  “No. I haven’t.” He leaned back on the couch and sighed. “I became what I was for the purposes of vengeance. I became what I was because I was the only chance my family had for justice. I never had to face the idea of joining a great war, although I suppose I did by default. You gave up a life you could have had. It’s different.”

  Fury drenched her. “So, what, you’re saying I made a mistake?”

  “I’m saying you’re braver than I ever was!” He sat down on the coffee table across from her, his eyes burning. “You think I would have given up being human if I wasn’t forced? If one of my family members was a vampire and the rest were still human… I don’t think I could’ve done what you did.”

  Kallie felt herself smile at last. “You don’t know what you’re capable of until you have no other
choice but to be that person,” she said quietly. “Isn’t that us? Both of us? You could have let yourself die. I could have tried to stay human.”

  “Neither of us would have forgiven ourselves, would we?” He raised his eyebrows and gave a disparaging laugh. “And now we’re forever nineteen years old. What a hellish thing.”

  “You don’t think it’s good?” Kallie had dropped her head back onto the couch and watched him.

  “I always wanted to get old and grey, you know sit on a porch-swing kind of old.” Liam smiled, but she knew it wasn’t a joke. “Come on, we should get some sleep. We need to get Caleb tomorrow night.”

  But first they had to find him.

  Chapter 6

  It was almost dark when he shook her awake; how she knew, she was not sure, but Kallie could sense that the sun was still up. She yearned toward it and shook her head, trying to will herself not to miss it. She had made her choice, and she would have plenty of time for regret—later. She took the offered bag of blood silently, and drank.

  At last, he sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin looking for Caleb.”

  “I can feel him, remember?”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if there was no way to find him, we’d have to devote ourselves to a less suicidal pursuit, secure in the knowledge that he’ll be kept alive for a good while, at least.” He met her eyes, unblinking. “Did you want a prettier sentiment from me, Kallie? Do you want me to pretend that I want to save Caleb for his own sake?”

  “Yes,” Kallie told him flatly. “He’s protected me before. For that reason, if nothing else, I’d hope you would find some tiny piece of kinship with him. And you know I’d say the same to him. In fact, I have.”

  “You have?” He looked just a shade too smug, and cleared his throat before looking away.

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t make a big thing of it.”

  “Right. So…” He rotated his head, massaging his neck. “Where is he, then?”

  Kallie settled back in her chair, eyes closed as she considered. She listened for the call of Caleb’s blood, the same blood that ran in her veins now, and she found him, still wracked with pain. She clenched her hands at the feel of his pain. He was unbroken, but he’d been hurt so badly. She clung to the strong beat of his heart, praying silently for him to hold on just a little while longer. She would be there. She was coming for him.

  She wished she could know if he heard her or not.

  “West,” she said finally, her voice breaking on the word. “He’s west of here.”

  “How far west?” Liam’s voice was suddenly cautious.

  “I don’t know. Why?”

  “Nothing. It’s nothing.” He shook his head. “West, it is. We should take my car. And, Kallie, tell your mom to call in sick to work today.”

  “Why?”

  “Because her home is the only place she’s safe right now. The rogue Reds will find out sometime soon that your father didn’t die. And when that happens…”

  “Right.” Kallie pulled out her phone as they walked to the car.

  You should stay in tonight.

  It wasn’t long before the text came back. Have an overnight shift. I’m sleepy, but I’ll be okay.

  Mom, you need to trust me on this. Stay in the house. Call in sick.

  There was a long pause after that, and Kallie squeezed her eyes shut. She did not want to answer the question she knew was coming. But her mother must have called down to the basement, or perhaps she had simply understood the little pieces of information Kallie’s father had let slip over the years, because she only replied, I’ll stay inside.

  A few seconds later: Where are you? Are you safe?

  I’m safe. Probably the biggest lie she had ever told. I’ll be home soon.

  Who are you with?

  Liam. He’s the one who wanted to make sure you were safe. It was a dirty play, to try to get her mom on Liam’s side, but Kallie knew that her mother could convince her father of anything. She slumped back in her seat.

  “You’ll tell me when we get close?” Liam asked her, wisely avoiding the topic of her mother.

  “Yes.” She could feel the call getting stronger, but not quickly. “He must be very far away.”

  “There’s a forest not far from here,” Liam said quietly. “That’s probably where they took him.”

  “I’d forgotten about that.” Kallie looked over at him. “Why are you so tense?”

  “You mean other than the fact that we’re on a suicidal quest to save my rival?”

  “Don’t try to weasel your way out of this one.”

  “Fine, fine. I…can’t tell you, though. Not right now.” He looked over at her. “Soon.”

  “Don’t hide things from me.” Kallie turned in her seat to stare at him. “Don’t.”

  “Quite a vehement response.” His voice was bland. He stole one glance at her and then returned his gaze to the road, fingers lightly on the steering wheel. “One might almost think you were suspicious of me for some reason.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Are you sure about that?” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m a cop, remember?”

  “It’s just…” Kallie slumped back and let out a breath. “Look, my dad doesn’t trust you.”

  “I would have hoped for better, but, frankly, it’s probably in his best interests to trust absolutely no one right now.”

  “I don’t think he does trust anyone,” Kallie admitted. “Except maybe me.”

  “You, I can see. But if he doesn’t trust the rest of them, either, how can I take offense?” The look he turned on her was so reasonable that she forgot to be suspicious for a moment. Relief washed through her. He wasn’t going to make this a fight.

  Then she remembered it already was one.

  “It’s because you’re a Blue, though.”

  “Well, I expect he’s been told a lot of lies about the Blues.”

  “He says you’ve been told a lot of lies about the Blues,” Kallie said immediately. “Don’t you see? He thinks everything you told me about the empire and the…anyway, he thinks all of it is lies.”

  “And he thinks I’m deceiving you. Well, let’s see. What would it be?” Liam’s voice was bitter.

  “Don’t. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “No, no, let me see if I can guess. I’m seducing you onto the Blue side for a war between the Blues and the Reds.” When Kallie said nothing, he looked over at her. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I don’t believe it.”

  “And yet, at the first sign of me having any secrets at all, you closed off entirely.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I have good reasons for those secrets, Kallie. And I told you that I’ll tell you soon.”

  She looked down at her lap, clenching her hands. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “No, it makes sense, I guess.” He sighed. “Just remember that no one has the whole story here, okay? We don’t know yet who’s allied with whom. We don’t know who’s behind this. I know that your father must have gotten most of his information from Petra, and I know that I don’t trust her. I’ll be honest with you. But I know maybe the Blues who made me don’t have all the information on the Reds.”

  “Why are you the only one who’s being reasonable about this?” Kallie groaned and banged her head against the window in slow motion.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You’re stronger than you realize now, and you might break it.”

  She gave a little laugh, and he smiled. The trees had surrounded them at some point while she was trying to explain everything, and she looked around herself at the darkness, shivering. “We’re close.”

  “Right or left?”

  “Right.”

  “Interesting. There’s a well over that way, one that was sacred to the old native tribes.”

  “You think they’re using it?”

  “If it were just witches, I�
�d say yes in a heartbeat. But it’s also vampires, and…well, basically, if something is holy to anyone, you should pretty much assume that vampires don’t mix well with it.”

  Kallie laughed. “Noted. Okay, turn as soon as you can.”

  Liam took a road that barely deserved the name, and both of them peered into the darkness.

  “Listen. I’m going to leave the keys in the car, and I’m going to stay outside.” Liam’s voice was low, as if he feared that their quarry could hear them from inside the car. “They’ll be guarding outside. I’ll draw them and keep them occupied for a while. You get in, get Caleb, and leave with the car.”

  “What about you?” Kallie felt her mouth drop open in horror.

  “Have I mentioned that I like you being worried about me?” His lips quirked. “I’ll be okay.”

  “There are bound to be dozens of them.”

  “Probably no more than eight or ten.”

  “Oh, that’s a lot better.”

  “Remember what I said about the Blues almost being wiped out? Well, I’m used to outrunning a lot of angry Reds.” His tone was wry, and a bit proud, but the thought of it made Kallie’s heart twist.

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “It wasn’t your doing.” He stopped the car. “We should get out here. Come on.”

  “One second. Do you have any sunglasses?”

  “Good point. It’d probably be best if no one else saw those eyes of yours.” He reached to rummage in the glove compartment. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” She slipped them on as they got out of the car, and walked down the road in silence. “You promise you’ll be okay?”

  He held a finger to his lips in response, but nodded.

  They heard the rogue Reds before they saw them, talking amongst themselves outside a little rundown shack. Liam squeezed Kallie’s hand and was gone before she had time to beg him to stay. She waited, knowing what was coming.

  There was no way to expect the sight of it, however. Six heads turned at once, and the rogue Reds let out a hiss in unison. They had smelled a Blue. They were gone in a streak of pale flesh in the darkness, and Kallie ran for the shack without pausing.