Fragile Brilliance (Shifters & Seers)

by Blackwell, Tammy

  “I don’t have lines around my mouth,” Maggie said, her hand worrying over the corners of her lips self-consciously.

  “I don’t see any lines.” Charlie leaned in until his breath was tickling over her jaw. “Maybe I need to see if I can feel any. Hmmm… tongues are really sensitive. I should probably use that…”

  “Charlie!”

  Even Maggie didn’t know if her squeaked exclamation was because of his boldness in front of Reid or because as he was moving closer to follow through on his threat all the lights went out.

  “Okay, did I just go blind, or did it get tomb-like dark in here?” There was just enough light for Maggie to see a spasm of movement, which she took to be Reid’s arms.

  “Reid, don’t move. You might hit the vase.” But still she flailed about. Maggie heard a rustling of clothes behind her, then the sound of something being placed on the next table.

  “Moved it to safety,” Charlie muttered in her ear.

  There are definite advantages to having a boyfriend with supernatural senses, Maggie thought. She literally couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, but he was able to perform a ceramic vase rescue mission.

  Charlie’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and because it was the only light source in the room, Maggie couldn’t help but look at the screen when he pulled up the message from Joshua.

  “Power has been cut. Video feed gone.”

  “Most probable source is the basement.”

  “Backup is on the way.”

  Maggie’s knees went wobbly. “We need to get out,” she said to Charlie, not caring Reid was there and would think they were crazy. Crazy was better than dead any day.

  She felt, rather than saw, Charlie shake his head. “Let me go see what is happening,” he whispered into her ear. He kissed the spot where her pulse rammed against her neck with a techno beat. “Just stay put, and if you have to, use this.” He slipped something into her pocket. The weight pressed against her leg, and a quick exploration with her fingers revealed a gun.

  She might have felt safer if she had any idea how to use it. As it was, she was now worried about accidentally shooting herself in the leg.

  “Stay,” she mouthed, hoping his super-vision enabled him to see her in the dark.

  “Are you guys seriously doing the nasty over there?” Reid sounded oddly offended and put out for a girl who was known to have sex with Boyfriend in hall closets and empty classrooms. “I swear, if my phone wasn’t in the metalworking studio, I would totally be spot-lighting you right now.”

  There was a zipping noise, and then Charlie said, “Oh well. I guess if you feel that way about it, I’ll put these clothes back on and go see if I can figure out what happened to the lights.” Reid made a gagging noise, and Maggie’s face shot up in flames. “Be right back,” he said, giving Maggie’s hand a squeeze.

  Don’t go! Someone might be down there! They might hurt you!

  But Maggie didn’t scream after him like she wanted, because it wouldn’t have done any good. Charlie wouldn’t give up, and he didn’t care he could get hurt or worse. She could have followed, but what good would that do if someone really was out there? At best, she would fumble around and not help matters at all. At worst, she would get them both killed. No, the best thing she could do would be to sit there and hope he made it back safely.

  Well, sit around, hope he made it back safely, and tattle.

  “Charlie went off to find whoever cut the power. Hurry,” she texted to the oh-so-convenient list she’d programmed into her phone that included every person who would storm in, kicking ass and taking names, if they knew Charlie was in danger.

  Jase texted back a string of cuss words, Joshua said he was working on getting the power back, and Scout said they were still ten minutes out.

  “Yo, Phone Hoarder. Pull up a light on that thing and let’s get out of here.”

  Maggie jumped at the sound of Reid’s voice. She was so busy with being trapped in the dark and freaking out over the way Charlie could be dying at that very moment, she’d forgotten she wasn’t just stuck in the room, she was stuck with Reid.

  She supposed it could be worse, although she couldn’t come up with any good examples of how.

  “We don’t know what is going on. We might run into something if we left.” As far as made-up excuses went, it was on the terrible side of lame, enough so Reid didn’t even bother acknowledging it.

  “Come on. This crazy darkness if freaking me out. The metalworking shop has more than one window. We’ll at least be able to see each other.”

  Maggie didn’t want to leave - she felt most comfortable in her studio and Charlie had asked her to stay - but Reid had a point. Standing around in the dark wasn’t doing anyone any good.

  Reid insisted on taking control of Maggie’s phone, leading them through the building. Even though it was a weeknight, very few people seemed to be around. One of the glassblowers was leaned out a window, blowing the smoke from his joint into the alley between their building and the Admissions Office, and two of the dancers were doing some back-breaking stretches near the door where what little moonlight the night offered spilled in.

  Maggie hadn’t actually been in the metalworking shop since the first week of school. It was forever away from the ceramic studio, and since Maggie never actually sought Reid and Boyfriend out, she had no reason to traipse over there.

  The first thing she noticed when walking through the door was the smell. It was an odd mixture of earth and chemicals. The earth was coming from a mound of fresh dirt sitting beside the forge, ready to smother out the flames. The chemicals…

  Well, she wasn’t really sure where they were coming from, but this was the metalworking shop. Who knew what those guys did.

  The second thing she noticed was the crucifix.

  “What in the hell…?”

  It wasn’t huge, maybe three feet tall, but it seemed to take up most of the room. As far as skill went, it was amazing. No doubt the artist had immense talent.

  Too bad their art made Maggie want to throw up.

  “What do you think?” Boyfriend flicked a piece of imaginary dust off the figure. “I know this isn’t how it really works, but I was making a statement, you know?”

  Maggie could only stare mutely at the figure on the cross. It had the body of a human and the head of a wolf. Into its stomach was carved the word “abomination”. Instead of eyes, it had hollowed out sockets.

  “Reid didn’t like the cross. She thought I was comparing you guys to Jesus, but I explained to her how crucifixion is one of the most painful, humiliating forms of public execution, and she eventually started liking the idea. Didn’t you, babe?”

  Maggie glanced at the door, calculating if she could make it.

  “Not happening,” Boyfriend said as if reading her mind. “Even if you were faster than me, I can have a knife stuck in your back before you make it to the hall.”

  “Charlie—“

  “Is locked in the basement. When Reid told me he’d wandered down there after I cut the power, I realized how much better it would be for you both to die alone.”

  Reid pulled a phone out her pocket and did her best The Price Is Right Showcase Showdown presentation. “Turns out I had it with me all this time. Silly me.”

  Maggie was dreaming. Or maybe the gas fumes were making her high. That had to be what was going on. No way was this happening.

  “Why? How?” Reid. And Boyfriend. Maggie’s mind went back to Barros’s body and all the wires and tools used to pose him.

  All the wires and tools a metalworker would know how to use.

  “Why?” she asked again, panic and terror making her voice quake.

  “Why? Because you’re all an abomination.” His words were even more disturbing because of the casual way he said them. “Because God never meant for you to exist.” He raised his arms out to his side. “I’m merely trying to send you all back to hell where you belong.”

  “Us?”

  “You
r kind. Shifters and Seers,” Reid said. “Can you imagine my surprise at finding out you’re a Seer? I mean, I came to this school to eradicate the world of such demons, and they had gone and given me one as a roommate.” She smiled, which made her look all the more crazy. “It was a sign. God is on our side.”

  “God? You’re not even religious.”

  “Religious isn’t the same as spiritual, Maggie. Of course, as one of the damned, you probably can’t understand the difference.”

  Reid was insane. Like over-the-cuckoo’s-nest insane. No way did Maggie believe this had anything to do with God. She was just using the big guy upstairs as an excuse to screw with people’s lives.

  And Boyfriend… disturbed was the word that came to mind, especially as Maggie watched him play with a wicked looking knife appearing from God only knows where. He’d always seemed off, disconnected in a way that spoke of anger, bitterness, and a whole host of ugly thoughts and emotions, but this was beyond anything she’d imagined.

  They were bat-shit crazy, and they were going to kill her.

  Bizarrely, the thing worrying Maggie the most was knowing Charlie would never forgive himself for not saving her. The robot would return, more cold and emotionless than before.

  But at least he will survive, the part of her living in hope whispered, confident he could hold his own against them. And maybe, with time, he’ll heal. He’s done it before, and he can do it again.

  “You realize they will find you, right? That even if you kill me here today, they will hunt you down and give your twisted minds a lesson in pain and torture? These aren’t some backwoods coyotes you’ve picked a fight with. This is the Alpha Pack.”

  “A stolen title for a freak among freaks,” Boyfriend said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not worried.”

  “You will be,” Maggie bluffed. “Soon.”

  Surely ten minutes had passed. She couldn’t be certain because when the world goes crazy, apparently time perception goes MIA, but she thought ten minutes had passed. Liam or Scout was going to burst through the door any minute and save the day.

  Any… minute… now…

  “Oh, you’re not waiting for your rescue party, are you?” Reid gave a mock pout. “Sorry, I may have sent them a message letting them know you were okay and they could go home.”

  The place where hope exists is somewhere between the breastbone and bellybutton. Maggie knew because she felt it die a quick but painful death.

  “You don’t want to do this,” she pleaded, tears springing to her eyes. She knew she should be ashamed to beg for her life, but she wasn’t. It was her life, after all. Without it, she was nothing, and Maggie didn’t want to be nothing. She wanted to create. To love. To live. “Please. We can all just walk out of here, and I won’t tell anyone. We’ll call a truce.”

  Boyfriend sneered. “No truce. No walking away. And no more talking.” He nodded to Reid. “Ready, Babe?”

  Reid moved behind Maggie. “Ready.”

  Before she make a grab for the gun Charlie gave her, Boyfriend wrapped his arms around her midsection, immobilizing her. In the next second, Reid jerked back one of her arms and wrapped something around her wrist. The pain was so intense she couldn’t process what was happening, let alone fight back. By the time they let her go, she found herself laying on the ground, her arms and legs bound with barbed wire.

  A Zippo lighter flashed in Boyfriend’s hand. “I’m disappointed to have to let go of my original vision, but we do what we must.” He cocked his head thoughtfully at Maggie. “Maybe we could strap you to the counter and move your hands…” He put one hand to his head and reached the other one out as if trying to grab onto something. Maggie recognized the pose immediately. It is hard to forget how the body wearing your face in a horrific painting looks.

  “We don’t have time, baby. Next time.”

  “Next time.” He nodded, disappointment coloring his eyes.

  Reid knelt down in front of Maggie, who was using all her focus to keep from giving them the satisfaction of hearing her scream. “Bye, Mags,” she said. “I hope you enjoy the way the flames feel licking your dirty skin. You’re going to feel it for the rest of eternity.”

  And then they were gone. Maggie heard the snick of the lighter and saw the flash of light on the far side of the room. Unable to keep it in any longer, she screamed. She screamed as she used her knees and elbows to drag her body across the floor. She screamed as the world ignited around her. She screamed and screamed until she couldn’t scream anymore. The flames were so close the heat of it was searing her skin. Through the smoke, she imagined she saw Charlie standing in the door.

  Look at me, she thought. Come for me. Save me.

  But he looked the other way, and when he spoke, it wasn’t to call her name.

  “Scout!” was the last thing Maggie heard before everything went dark.

  Chapter 29

  Charlie realized his mistake the minute the door to the basement closed behind him. No one was down there, which meant he’d left Maggie unprotected when the killer was God-only-knows-where. He caught Davin’s scent just before the door clicked shut, and heard the lock slide home before he could make a grab for the handle. Since the door was metal and he was lacking both lock-picking tools and skills, he’d been looking for another way out of the basement when he’d heard Reid leading Maggie to the metalworking shop. He ran up the stairs, screaming for her to not go, but she hadn’t heard.

  That’s when he started trying to tear the damn door down.

  It was a contest to see which would give first - the door or his shoulder. Just when Charlie thought he was going to be nursing a shredded rotator cuff until the full moon, the door swung open.

  At the end of the long hallway to his left he saw the door slam shut behind Reid and Davin’s retreating forms. The coyote wanted to run after them, and Charlie’s human half almost agreed, but as he turned towards them a flash of fire poured out of the metalworking shop, accompanied by a boom he could feel in his chest. The majority of the blaze was swallowed as quickly as it had erupted, and in its wake he heard Maggie’s screams.

  “Scout!” he yelled, not even realizing he’d picked up on the Alpha Female’s scent until he was screaming her name. He pulled his shirt over his mouth, trying to keep from inhaling lungful after lungful of smoke. He got a supply of almost usable air and tried again. “Scout! Liam!”

  He was about to charge in on his own when a white wolf leapt over a flaming beam and landed beside him.

  God. Damn. It.

  “You were supposed to be in human form.” And have a fire extinguisher.

  The Alpha Female gave him an apologetic look.

  “She’s in there. I heard her.” The smoke was blinding and logic said no one could be in there and still be alive, but he knew there was still a chance. It was nothing more than a feeling deep in his stomach, but he trusted it.

  Scout dropped her head, peered into the smoke, and then stared into the room. It only took a second for her white fur to disappear completely into the haze. When she’d gone about two or three steps, she let out a short, commanding bark. Charlie took it as a sign to follow.

  Winding his way through the inferno, Charlie realized the fire wasn’t as widespread as he initially thought. The good thing about metal is it’s hard to burn. Flames still shot up from the wooden cabinets, but with Scout as his guide, he avoided the worst of it.

  He spotted Maggie before Scout did, her green-and-black patterned dress bright enough to serve as a beacon. He shoved past the wolf, nearly losing his leg to a shear in the process.

  He braced one hand on the dirt beside her head, and then froze.

  What the…?

  Charlie couldn’t feel the heat of the flames from his forearm down. He leaned in next to Maggie’s head, and when he built up enough courage to do it, sucked in a lungful of air.

  A lungful of fresh air.

  She was holding back the flames and smoke with the energy she was drawing from the ear
th, but she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. She’d already drained herself to the point of unconsciousness.

  Charlie slipped an arm under her legs and lifted her gently off the ground, careful not to jar the barbed wire wound around her delicate wrists and ankles anymore than necessary. The sight caused a white-hot rage to burn in his blood, and he vowed he wouldn’t rest until Davin paid for what he’d done.

  Maggie’s body trembled as she coughed against his chest. Before he had her completely settled, Scout was leading the way back out. Charlie had been able to hold his breath most of the way in, but he was a Shifter, not a vampire. He tried to pull oxygen into his lungs, but since Maggie was no longer touching the dirt, there wasn’t any to be had. His chest burned and little lights dance in front of his eyes, but he walked on. By the time he reached the door, his field of vision had narrowed to virtually nothing. He thought that was why he couldn’t see the hallway, but as he began to crumble, he realized he was wrong. The fire had spread, and he wasn’t going to be able to get them out after all.

  Chapter 30

  The world was upside down.

  No. That wasn’t quite right. Charlie was upside down.

  No. That wasn’t it either.

  “I don’t want to be mean when you’re obviously having a bad day, but have you considered a diet?”

  Charlie’s eyes and brain finally adjusted enough to realize Jase had the top half of his body. Since his feet weren’t dragging on the ground and there was no way in the world they were moving, he assumed somebody else was supporting those. A pillar of black smoke threatened to block the stars out of the sky above his head. He took a deep breath, and the resulting coughing fit making Jase say a few special words and tighten his hold.

  “Take it easy, bro. You’re going be fine.”

  Charlie licked his lips and opened his mouth—

  “Don’t talk. She’s okay. Your Maggie is a fighter.”

  His Maggie. He shouldn’t have liked the sound of that, but he did. She was his. And she was alive. Although, the sooner he saw the proof with his own eyes the better.