Into the Fire

by Cheree Alsop

  I met his gaze. “I won’t burn houses for you anymore, Jake.”

  “I think you will.” He looked at Alana. “I think you’ll do whatever I say.”

  I bared my teeth, feeling more animal than ever before. “What do you want with Alana?”

  He shrugged as though my rage was miniscule. “Motivation, for now. I have a feeling you’ll do whatever I say to keep her safe. If not, I’m sure she’ll bring a fetching price on the black market.”

  Alana shook her head. “Don’t do it, Saro. Don’t listen to him.”

  Jake struck her across the mouth with the back of his hand. She let out a small cry of pain and ducked her head.

  “You’ll do it,” Jake said, meeting my gaze. “Trust me.”

  I shook my head. I had to keep his attention from her so he wouldn’t hurt her. “You lied to me about everything. I’m done hurting people and destroying their homes. I’m done stealing for you. Rob the safes yourself.”

  He hit me again. I rocked back in the chair. My foot hit something that chinked lightly against the cement ground. I glanced down in time to see a shard of glass from a bottle. “You’re a loser, Jake. You don’t have the guts to do it alone; you have to lie to get your work done.”

  His fist slammed into my healing chest so hard I gasped for breath. When his next punch connected, I kicked out. The shard of glass skittered across the ground toward Alana. I saw her bend over to pick it up and knew I had to keep Jake’s attention so that he wouldn’t catch her.

  “You’re nothing but a sorry loser,” I said. “You deserve to be shot by the cop who let me go.”

  Anger twisted his face into a rage I hadn’t seen before. He advanced on me, his fists raised. “You ungrateful scum! I took you in, and this is how you repay me?”

  I heard Alana call my name, but Jake’s first fist connected with the side of my head where the bullet had grazed. My head rocked back and darkness surrounded me once more.

  ***

  The scent of smoke tickled my nose, demanding to be recognized. I opened my eyes.

  “Good timing.” Jake’s features were lit by dancing orange and yellow. “I was wondering if we’d get the chance to say goodbye.”

  I glanced around. We were in a house that was already on fire. The shattered remains of a Molotov bottle sat near the blazing kitchen cupboards. I tried to move, but I sat in a chair with my hands tied behind me. My feet were bound together by a cable.

  “Kind-of ironic, isn’t it?” Jake asked. “Going up in the same flames you used to burn down so many houses?”

  “You mean you used,” I said. The words ate through my skull. I fought not to show the pain.

  Jake shook his head. “I merely made the Molotovs. This is the first time I’ve used them to actually set something on fire.” He indicated the roaring flames. His eyes were wider than usual, and there was a look on his face I had seen many times in the Arena. The fire reflected in his eyes; Jake was no longer sane. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  Fear twisted in my stomach. It wasn’t the first time I had faced death, but it was the first I wanted to live to prove that I wasn’t the destroyer he made me out to be. I wanted to be the person I saw in Alana’s eyes. I might not have lived up to her belief in me before, but I was determined to now. I had a lot to make up for. “Where’s Alana?” I demanded.

  “You mean my new meal ticket?” he replied. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

  I glared at him. “Let me go, Jake.”

  He laughed, and there was a maniacal edge to the sound. “Have a nice death, Saro,” he replied. “I wish I could stay around to see it, but things are getting a bit uncomfortable in here.” He tugged at the collar of his shirt meaningfully.

  “Jake, get me out of here,” I pleaded. I tried to work my hands out of the bindings, but the ropes cut into my wrists. I pulled harder, ignoring the pain.

  “Nice working with you,” Jake replied. He lifted the bag at his feet and hefted it over his shoulder. “These are heavy. How’d you ever fly with them?” He laughed again. “At least you won’t have to worry about that now.”

  He opened the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. The fire rushed forward, drawn higher by the fresh air. “Goodbye, my boy.” His words twisted, and his gaze darkened. The smile that lingered on his face reveled at my pain. He stepped into the darkness.

  I pulled harder at the ropes. Blood slicked my wrists. I hoped that it would make them slippery enough to work free of the bindings. Fire ate at my wings. I smelled the scent of charred feathers. I tried to back up to avoid the worst of the flames. The chair caught on a throw rug. I fell onto my side. A yell tore from my lips as the fire that snaked from the remains of the Molotov raced up my arms.

  Fresh air met my face. “Saro!” a voice called. I looked up to see Alana standing in the doorway. Relief rushed through me so strong I could barely breathe.

  She dropped to her knees and tugged at the cords that bound my feet.

  “A knife,” I forced out from my smoke-filled lungs. I began to cough and couldn’t stop. My lungs felt like they were tearing from the inside. I gasped for breath.

  Alana disappeared for a moment, then pressure tugged at my legs. I glanced down between coughs to see her sawing at the cords with a steak knife. The bindings broke. She helped me to my knees. “Hold on, Saro,” she said. She crawled behind me. “Your hands,” she gasped. She pulled at the ropes. I bit back a cry as they tore into my burned wrists.

  When they broke free, Alana pulled me to my feet. I stumbled, unable to get my bearings with the pain in my head. “I’ve got you, Saro,” she said.

  She helped me to the door. I fell to the grass, gulping in huge breaths of air into my ragged lungs. They burned with every breath. Police sirens filled the night sky.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” Alana said. She pulled me to my feet.

  I shook my head, fighting to keep from passing out. “I can’t fly,” I protested.

  She ducked under my arm. I felt the force of her wings as she pushed them down. We rose into the air. Alana laughed, the sound light and young. “I’m flying, Saro!” she gasped. “I’m really flying!” She soared higher.

  “Saro!”

  The shout drove terror into my heart. I squinted against the flaming house and saw a form shaking a fist at us from the ground. Jake’s face twisted as he cursed us. He lifted something. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of a gun. The sound of a gunshot ricocheted through the air. Alana gasped. We plummeted toward the ground.

  I held her tightly to my body and forced my burned wings to move. Every beat hurt so badly I could barely breathe. We lifted slowly. Another gunshot rang out. The bullet sped past, missing me by inches. I flew higher and higher until Jake’s silhouette was lost far below. I pushed on blindly, unsure where I was headed.

  “Kale’s place,” Alana whispered.

  I ducked my head so I could hear her, ignoring the way the movement sent agony through my skull. “Where?”

  “The internet said Crosby, a black building with gold windows.” Her shirt was soaked with blood. It flowed from a bullet wound near her heart. I could hear the way she had to force herself to breathe. I shifted my grip so that her wound was pressed against my chest to help staunch the blood.

  “Hold on, Alana,” I said. “Don’t give up on me now.”

  “Never,” she whispered, her lips colored red.

  Chapter Ten

  Crosby was an hour south by car. I didn’t know how much time I had made up flying. It may have taken longer. All I knew when I landed on the lawn outside the building was that I was on the verge of unconsciousness. The pain of my burned hands had faded into a blur that echoed the roar in my head. I carried Alana toward the front doors. Each step felt like it took an eternity.

  The doors opened, lighting the lawn in an expanse of white that tore into my skull. People came out of the building. I squinted, and recognized Kale. He looked older than I felt, though there was only a year se
parating us in age. His black wings rose as he flew from the steps with several other Galdoni close behind. They reached us sooner than the humans.

  I couldn’t hold Alana any longer. I fell to my knees, letting her rest gently on the grass. I stumbled back to give them room. The Galdoni landed. Several made their way toward me.

  “Don’t touch me,” I yelled. Fury filled my eyes with hot tears. I gestured with my burned hands toward Alana. “Save her, please.” The last word fell strangled from my lips. I pleaded for someone else instead of myself. She was all that mattered. Darkness pounded around me. I sunk to my knees on the grass.

  “We’ll save her,” Kale’s voice promised. There was something about it I could hold onto. He spoke in full honestly; my heart recognized it even though the quality had been scarce in my life. I could believe him.

  I lifted my head from my chest and forced my eyes to focus. Forms lifted Alana carefully and hurried toward the building. She stirred slightly in their grasp. She was still alive, for the moment at least.

  A hand touched my shoulder. I looked up into Kale’s face. “I know you,” he said, his eyes tight with concern.

  I nodded, which set my head pounding even harder. “I whooped you once,” I said with a cough that made my lungs ache.

  Kale’s lips lifted in a smile. “I think I recall it the other way around.”

  I shrugged. “Details.” My head swam and I fell forward.

  Kale caught me before I could hit the ground. “Let’s get you taken care of,” he said in a kind voice.

  “Alana first,” I protested as I was lifted in strong arms.

  “Alana first, I promise,” he replied.

  I nodded and let myself go to the welcoming embrace of darkness.

  ***

  My mouth felt as dry as cotton when I awoke. My head itched. I lifted a hand to it only to find that my hand was covered in bandages. I stared, trying to remember why.

  It came to me all at once, my confession to Jake, his beating, awakening in the basement, Alana tied on the couch. The glitter of the glass on the cement was bright in my mind. It grew into a roaring flame which ate at my hands and wings. A gunshot rang out. My heart thundered at the memory.

  “Alana?” I pushed up from the bed. My knees gave out the instant I put weight on them. I fell to the ground. The sound of footsteps running up the hall came to my ears. I tried to push up, but the pressure on my hands tore another cry of pain from my lips.

  “Easy, Saro.” Kale’s strong arms raised me up. He helped me back to the bed.

  I fell onto the mattress and willed the air to stop burning my lungs. “Alana?” I forced out.

  “She’s stable,” he reassured me.

  I met his gaze, searching for any sign that he was lying. A kind smile crossed his face, something I had never seen at the Academy. “It’s alright. You can trust me.”

  I shook my head, but it was the wrong move. I put both wrapped hands to it to make it stop spinning. The pressure hurt the burns. “How can I be sure?” I asked with my eyes closed.

  Kale was quiet for a moment. I heard the sound of metal chair legs across a linoleum floor. Kale sat down, his movements slow and careful so as not to startle me. “You came to me,” he said after a few minutes had passed.

  “I had nowhere else to go.” I chuckled at how lame it sounded, and then began to cough.

  Kale left quickly and returned with a cup of water. He held a straw to my lips. I drank a few swallows and the coughing eased. He set the cup on a side table.

  Kale waited until I was able to breathe somewhat normally before he sat back down. “What name do you go by?”

  With the state I was in, there was no reason to hide the truth. “Saro.”

  He nodded. “You’ve had a rough time.”

  I smiled without humor. “Did it take you a while to figure that out?”

  He laughed and sat back in the chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It looked strange to see him sitting there so calming with his wings out to each side as though he didn’t fear a stranger walking in at any moment. He was in his element; that much was certain. “You’re not the first I’ve had officers calling to find.”

  Fear twisted my heart. We weren’t safe.

  Kale lifted a hand. “Don’t worry. Officer Donaldson was more concerned about your well-being than interested in taking you in. He said one of his men shot you.” He indicated the bandage around my forehead. “I assume that’s where you got that.”

  I nodded.

  “Is that how Alana got shot?”

  The memories rushed against me. The elation in her voice when she realized she was flying, coupled by the pain of her gasp after the gunshot rang out. We were falling, plummeting to the earth. My wings didn’t want to respond. The feathers were charred. I couldn’t hold her.

  “Saro.” A hand touched my shoulder. “Saro, it’s alright.”

  I had to catch her. I struggled to force my wings free of the bandages that bound them against my back. I had to break free, to save her from falling.

  “Saro, you’re okay; Alana’s okay!”

  I blinked through the tears of pain and helplessness. Kale stood over me, one hand on my chest and the other on my shoulder, holding me down so I didn’t hurt myself. My eyes focused on his face.

  “It’s alright, Saro. Just breathe.” Kale blinked as his own eyes filled with tears. “You’ve been through too much.”

  I took in a shuddering breath. It took all my self-control to keep from coughing again. I let it out slowly, willing my pounding heart to calm. I could barely think past the pain that threatened to break my skull. Kale eased me back against the pillow. I couldn’t remember ever having a pillow beneath my head in my entire life. The softness helped to drive away the panic in my chest. They didn’t give you a pillow if they were going to kill you, right? I nodded. “I’m okay.”

  Kale lifted his hands slowly, ready to hold me down should the need arise again. “You’re sure?” His gaze was uncertain, watching my every move.

  I took in another breath and let it out with only a small cough. “Sorry about that.” I felt more ashamed than I could bear. Galdoni weren’t supposed to show weakness, yet that was all I felt under Kale’s searching eyes.

  “Don’t do that.”

  His sharp tone surprised me. “What?”

  “Don’t categorize your faults. I’ve seen it too many times.”

  I looked away, angry that he could read me so well.

  “Saro, don’t hide inside yourself and destroy all that you’ve accomplished in getting here.”

  A wry, bitter smile twisted my mouth. “What have I accomplished?” I asked, glaring at the wall.

  “You’re here, Saro. Do you know how many Galdoni never make it here? Though I must admit I’ve never seen anyone arrive in the condition of you two. It must have been quite the feat to reach us.”

  I thought of Jake and the fire. “You have no idea,” I said softly.

  I heard Kale sit back in the chair. “Galdoni are a stubborn lot,” he said.

  He sounded more amused than angry. I clenched my hands at the thought that he was laughing at me. The action sent fiery pain racing up my arms. I looked back at him without bothering to hide my anger.

  His brow furrowed and he sat forward. “It’s a good thing,” he said. “If we weren’t stubborn, we would have died when the Academy closed. As it is, we have a survival instinct that forces us to keep fighting. That’s what brought you here. You saved Alana’s life.”

  It was her beating heart that kept my wings moving when every brush of air made me want to plummet to the earth to stop the pain. I had promised her safety. I wouldn’t give up until she was taken care of. “She saved mine.”

  He nodded. “I figured as much.” When I turned my head away, he set a hand on my shoulder. “If it wasn’t for a girl, I wouldn’t be here either.”

  I looked back and read the honesty in his eyes.

  He smiled, his gaze distant. “Brie ga
ve me a reason to keep going. She believed there was more to me than just a stupid animal raised to kill.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. I had to nod. “She thinks I’m better than I am.”

  Kale smiled. “Our job is to match that belief.” A soft tune played from his pocket. He pulled out a cellphone. “Hello?” He continued to watch me as he listened to the caller. “No problem. Make them comfortable in the A block. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He hung up the phone.

  “You can go,” I said, wondering why he bothered with me when there were obviously other things he needed to do.

  “You sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m fine.” Sleep beckoned. As much as I didn’t want to stay in the bed, weariness pulled at my eyelids, beckoning for me to close them.

  “I’ll be back,” he promised.

  For some reason, the words reassured me. I nodded and let my eyes close. “Kale?”

  The sound of his footsteps paused by the door. “Yes, Saro?”

  “Take care of Alana.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, “I will.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The next time I awoke, darkness showed through the small window near my bed. My hands ached, but my head had cleared enough that I could think through the pounding. I sat up. The only thought that mattered was checking on Alana. I had to make sure she was alright, that they were taking care of her and that she was truly stable.

  A tube ran into my arm near my elbow. It took a few minutes to get my gauzed hands to cooperate, but I was finally able to remove the needle. I swung my legs off the bed and stood slowly. My knees wavered. I leaned an elbow against the wall to keep from falling. After a few minutes, I was able to will myself to stand straight. I walked gingerly toward the door. It was shut. Thank goodness the door had a latch instead of a knob. I pressed my elbow against the latch and the door clicked. I stepped back and worked my toes into the crack. The door swung silently inward.

  The linoleum floor was cold to my bare feet. I felt exposed in a hospital gown tied loosely around my bound wings. With my hands damaged and wings in who knew what condition, I would have little chance of fighting off an attack. The thought made me wary.