Stormfront: Nibiru Rising: Book 2

by Chad Kunego

  Zarina continued to pace, but Kaitlyn got the feeling that there was something the Russian was avoiding.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  The look Zarina gave her was a mix of concern and surprise. Kaitlyn saw conflicting emotions in her eyes, probably trying to decide whether she was going to tell her or not. With a sigh, she started talking again.

  “Da. I did not tell you everything, but only because I am not sure what I witnessed. I only have suspicion. Was hoping to consult with my master before saying anything.”

  “Out with it,” she said, gesturing impatiently.

  “I believe it is actually form of possession.”

  Kaitlyn gave her a skeptical look.

  “Why, out of the more logical reasons, would you come to that conclusion?”

  “Because I think Rick is possessed as well.”

  Chapter 23

  Rick touched down, making sure no one was close enough to see him. Unconsciously, he started brushing dirt off his clothes. Without meaning to, one of his fingers got snagged, enlarging one of the many rents and tears it had suffered in the previous battles with Juan. Or was it Iškur? He still wasn’t sure what was going on with his opponent.

  Was Iškur another entity? The fact he’d mentioned Inanna kinda pointed to that reality. It also gave him even more proof that Inanna was something more than a fever dream or hallucination. If she was real though, then that opened up a whole different can of worms.

  I can’t worry about that now. We need to figure out how to shut down Juan without killing him. Easier said than done though.

  Looking around one last time with his sense, he nodded before going inside. Closing the door, he noticed Kaitlyn and Zarina sitting at the far side of the room. Before he had a chance to move, Kaitlyn got up, approaching him quickly while Zarina still sat with her back to him.

  “Man, you look like shit. All it’s going to take is another stiff breeze for people think you’re a streaker.”

  Rick glanced back down at his clothes self-consciously.

  Maybe I should go back to the car wreckage, see if there’s a change of clothes left in one piece. Wait, did we leave anything at the motel?

  “Yeah, I was hoping for an ‘80’s retro look.”

  When Kaitlyn laughed, something felt off, like her laughter was forced.

  Nah, must be my imagination. Just exhausted from having my ass handed to me again.

  “So what’d you think about this Juan person?”

  A strange look crossed her face.

  “You mean Iškur?”

  “I guess. Not sure what to make of that,” he said, absently rubbing his forehead where a slight pressure was building up between his eyes. It reminded him of the sensation he felt if he’d used too much power.

  Except he didn’t have that happen anymore. Even with all the power he’d used over the past few days, he hadn’t felt any side effects. Before his first encounter with Inanna, using only a fraction of what he’d used, even just today, would have put him out of commission for several days. But now? Nothing until he got back here.

  Could I have actually reached a new limit? I hope not. I need enough left in the tank to deal with Juan. Otherwise, we’re screwed…

  “You okay? You’re looking pretty tired.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. All this fighting seems to be catching up to me is all. I don’t suppose we have any food left, do we?”

  “Sure, let me see what we’ve got in the cooler.”

  Rick nodded, but the pressure continued building in his head, making any movement uncomfortable. Moving toward his bed, he staggered slightly. Even with the headaches he used to get, he never staggered before.

  Something’s not right… What’s going on with me?

  Instinctively, he powered up, hoping a slight touch of his healing ability would fix his headache. A slight gasp from Zarina caught his attention. At the same time, his headache disappeared, raising warning flags in his mind. Shifting his vision, he noticed a nearly invisible tendril trailing from Zarina’s head to his. His face became flushed with sudden insight.

  “Zarina? What the hell are you doing? Why are you trying to get in my head?”

  A sudden roaring sound followed by a blast of heat washed over him. Spinning, he spotted Kaitlyn engulfed in flames.

  “What the fuck is going on?” he asked, holding his hand up in front of him while quickly glancing back and forth between his teammates.

  Kaitlyn’s aura quickly shrunk until only her arms were wreathed in rippling flames. Looking back toward Zarina, he noticed she’d gotten up, facing him. Her eyes glowed brightly with an ethereal light.

  “Kaitlyn…? I’m only going to ask this one more time… What… the hell… is going on?”

  “Take it easy Rick,” she said, holding her hands up and gesturing slowly, “Just relax, let Zarina examine you. We need to make sure you’re okay. After this last fight, you were knocked unconscious. Now you’re acting odd.”

  “Excuse me? Since when do teammates check on each other by covert means? And for the record, I’m acting ‘odd’ because she,” he said, pointing at Zarina, “is trying to invade my mind!”

  He turned to face Zarina.

  “And you. Didn’t you have a shit fit when I did the same thing on accident? Even equating it to mind rape?” he demanded, his voice rising in anger. A look of what appeared to be shame crossed her face before a look of determination replaced it. Kaitlyn’s voice caught his attention again.

  “Calm down. Just let her examine you. Then we’ll explain.”

  “Bullshit! You’ll explain now, or I’m out of here! In fact, you know what? Fuck it, I’m outta here!”

  He spun around, heading toward the door. A sudden gout of fire splashed across the exit, blocking his path. He glanced back toward her, noting she’d fully engulfed herself in flames again.

  “Really? Fire?” he asked, extending his aura outward and snuffing the blaze blocking him from leaving. Kaitlyn lifted off the ground, but with the mental equivalent of snapping his fingers, he reached out and squelched her aura.

  “No.”

  Kaitlyn dropped to the ground, landing awkwardly before regaining her balance.

  “Seriously? This is not going to end well. Don’t you remember last time?”

  Turning to face her completely, he slightly pushed outward, slamming her against the wall, pinning her in place.

  “So much for being a team. I shoulda never let you talk me into joining this outfit. I was better off alone.”

  Without warning, he was suddenly propelled sideways, slamming into the wall and breaking his concentration. Now free, Kaitlyn launched herself into the air again. Sensing the next attack approaching, he bracing himself. Shifted to void, the new attack washed over him harmlessly. Another wave of heat splashed across his aura, changing his focus again. Instead of deflecting it, he quickly absorbed it, increasing his growing pool of reserves. In anger, he mentally batted Kaitlyn into the ground, extinguishing her aura and pinning her in place at the same time.

  Satisfied, he slowly strode toward Zarina. The equivalent of a mental ice pick slammed into his mind, breaking his concentration again. The sharp, throbbing pain swelled in intensity, forcing him to his knees. In desperation, he shifted his aura again, blending violet with void. The sudden shift caused Zarina to cry out in pain before collapsing to the floor.

  Mentally, he struggled to shake the cobwebs out of his his mind. With Zarina down, his mind cleared quickly, the pain fading away without a trace. Shifting his aura back to white, he got back to his feet before glanced over at Zarina. Her body was sprawled out on the floor, and as far as he could see, unmoving. Shifting his vision to check on her, he was shocked to find a good quarter of her aura was now shining bright white instead of just a small patch like before.

  That’s why she got past my defenses. Unless I miss my guess, she’s starting to become more like me for some reason.

  His vision was suddenly obscured by an
other blast of fire. Apparently Kaitlyn had recovered during the time he was battling Zarina. This time though, Kaitlyn was putting everything she had into stopping him, laying down a continuous stream of flames toward him.

  Damn it! She’s completely lost her mind! She’s going to burn the entire building down around us!

  “Enough!”

  Reaching out, he grabbed Kaitlyn with his powers, snuffing her aura before extinguishing all the fires she’d started. At the same time, he scooped up Zarina and gave her a little blast of healing energy to rouse her. Groaning softly, he slowly approached her while dragging Kaitlyn along behind him.

  “Leave her alone!”

  The sudden tone of panic mixed with anger in Kaitlyn’s voice caught him by surprise. Almost like she thought he was going to kill them, even though he’d made sure not to severely injure either of them. The weirdness of the whole situation made him pause. Feeling his anger drain away, he struggled to understand what was going on.

  What am I missing? Why attack me now? Especially when they’d been concerned about my well-being only a half hour earlier? Something’s not adding up.

  Mentally swinging Kaitlyn around and setting her down next to Zarina, he yanked a chair over to sit on while he decided on his next move. Coming to a decision, he waited for Zarina to become more conscious. Shifting his vision, he monitored her condition.

  While still groaning slightly, he noticed a very slight tensing of her body before a thick tendril slowly stretched out from her head. He watched in fascination as it elongated before slowly started approaching him along the thin tendril that still connected them.

  “That’s enough Zarina. I know you’re awake. If you try attacking me with whatever that is, I’ll just knock you out again.”

  He watched her body stiffen for a moment before going completely slack. Sliding her hands up, she pushed off the floor, shifting into a sitting position. She stared at him intently while he looked back and forth between them in confusion.

  “So are you two going to tell me what the hell you two were thinking, or should I just knock you both out and disappear?”

  He watched them both slump in defeat. He sat quietly, waiting for one of them to speak.

  “Who’s Inanna?”

  Kaitlyn’s question took him by surprise.

  “Is that what this is all about?”

  He noticed Zarina nod slightly, a look of fear growing on her face.

  “Seriously? Instead of just asking me, you decided using guerrilla tactics to invade my mind? When that didn’t work, you both switched to an all out assault? You both thought that was the better option? What the fuck?”

  His anger start building again, his hands clenched so tightly they were shaking. Taking a deep breath, he held it for a moment before letting it out, letting the tension flow out of him with the exhalation. Dropping his hold on them, he spun away, heading for the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  The unexpected concern in Zarina’s voice caused him to pause before turning back toward them.

  “I need to get out of here. I was starting to think I could trust you,” he said, pointing at Kaitlyn, “but apparently I was wrong. I need to think about whether I want to work with your group anymore.”

  Before either woman could respond, he pulsed away, not even bothering to open the door as he blasted through it, rendering it into a pile of splinters. The last thing he sensed while accelerating away was Zarina standing in the doorway, watching him disappear into the distance.

  Chapter 24

  “FUCK!”

  Kaitlyn stormed back and forth, stomping angrily.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  She paused to look at Zarina.

  “What the fuck have I done? That was a complete fucking disaster…”

  Kaitlyn watched Zarina turn and move away from the door while nodding in agreement.

  He’s right though. We should of just asked instead of ambushing him. What the hell was I thinking. We need him. Hell, I need him. He’s the only one who ever really treated me as equal. Now he’s gone, and without him, our mission is fucked.

  “What do we do? He is unlikely to trust us now. What if he does not return?”

  Kaitlyn paused to consider the question. How the hell to other’s do this? How do they make leading a team look so damn easy?

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that. Regardless of everything else that’s happened, he’s still the best shot we have of taking down this rogue mutant, and he knows it.”

  Zarina nodded again before walking across the room, sitting down on one of the few pieces of furniture that had somehow survived the fight.

  “He seemed in right mind. Otherwise, I think we would both be dead.”

  Kaitlyn considered what the younger woman said. After reviewing the fight, she had to agree. Even with all the provocation, Rick had seriously held back on what he could of done to them.

  “So you don’t think he’s possessed at this point? No multiple personalities running amok?”

  “Da. At least not right now. He seemed fully in control of his mind. What concerns me is how easily he defended himself against my intrusion. It was like his mind disappeared. Twice. The feedback it caused was, how shall I say, unpleasant.”

  “Do you think this Juan person might have similar mental defenses?”

  The young woman paused, considering the question.

  “Possible… From what we saw though, he seems more wild and reckless, like the storms he commands. So maybe not…”

  It didn’t sound like a very confident assessment.

  “Kat?”

  She looked back toward Zarina. The look of vulnerability on the Russian’s face caught her off guard.

  “May I have permission to try going after Rick? I think I might have possibility to bring him back.”

  “In his current state of mind, do you think that’s a good idea?”

  She watched the young woman struggle with herself before responding.

  “Nyet, but only option. Is hard to explain to non-telepaths, but we have connection from being in each other’s mind. I believe I have chance.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Zarina nodded timidly.

  “Well, this whole situation is already a huge cluster, so it can’t get any worse. If you think you can do it, then go. At the first sign of trouble though, hightail it back here. Understood?”

  She watched Zarina’s face brighten.

  “Da, understood.”

  “Then go bring our teammate back.”

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  Zarina closed her eyes, focusing on the gossamer thread of connection that linked her to Rick. She didn’t know why, but ever since he’d healed her, she’d been able to sense his location. If she concentrated hard enough, she also got an impression of his emotions and mental state, something she should have used before trying to invade his mind. The link seemed to get stronger during her meditation at the hotel, but it still felt tenuous at best. It’d been the only reason she’d managed to get that first mental attack in to start with.

  At first, she’d thought it’d been her imagination, especially since she’d never experienced anything similar with master Levi. But with Rick, she could feel his anger and hurt pulsing at the back of her mind, even with the distance that separated them.

  Something else I’m going to need to discuss with master Levi.

  Closing her eyes, she slowly turned, trying to determine which direction Rick had gone. Levitating up into the air, she marveled at how much more powerful she’d gotten over the past few days. Before this mission, it would have taken a lot out of her just to levitate even a few inches off the ground. Now she could do it effortlessly. When she’d carried Rick and Kaitlyn to safety, she didn’t have time to think about whether she could do it, she just did it.

  Whatever he did to me seems permanent. If anything, my power are still increasing.

  Getting her mind back on track, she pinpointed
the direction. Taking off, she allowed herself to rise higher into the sky. Looking around in wonder, she’d always wondered what others with the power of flight felt when they sailed through the air. Now she reveled in the amazing sense of freedom flight offered. Accelerating, she watched the ground beneath her blur past.

  How fast can I go?

  Pushing herself a little faster, she picked up speed, but the fear of losing her concentration and falling out of the sky caused her to slow down again. She just didn’t feel confident enough to test her limits, especially since she was still unused to her currently growing sense of power. An unexpected thought caused her to stop, hovering over the baked ground below.

  He left because of us. If I hold back, I will never catch him, never be able to make this right.

  Throwing her shoulders back in determination, her face scrunched up in concentration. With a yell, she launched herself forward again, accelerating so fast that the wind tore away the tears streaming freely from the corners of her eyes. Expending a little more energy, she used her telekinesis to deflect the wind from her face before pushing herself forward even harder.

  A pressure wave slowly developed in front of her. A small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that, if her power failed, the fall would probably kill her. Refusing to slow down, she instead drifted down closer to the ground. Through their connection, she could tell she was slowly gaining on him, but it was such a vague sensation, she couldn’t determine the actual distance separating them. All she could do was keep trying to go faster, hopefully cutting into the space between them.

  A growing stinging sensation spread across her body, accompanied by a weird buzzing sound growing in volume. Looking around, she realized the noise and pain was caused by the fabric of her clothing flapping in the wind. Expending still more energy, her shield grew, protecting her entire body rather than just her face. Satisfied with her defense, she absently wiped at the sweat pouring down her face.

  Another thought suddenly occurred to her, causing her to pull up short.