Affinity

by Dianne Wilson

  “Do it.”

  Cringing, the man flipped the switch. From his testing, Kai knew what to expect. The shimmery heatwave, the shift from water-stained cement to lava glass. This time, his light blazed strong for a moment, and then dimmed.

  Torn’s eyes went midnight black, and coppery snakes danced on his forehead. The other two morphed into twisted versions of the men in lab coats. One hunched, the other broad. This was the Vin and Dax he remembered. At a flick of a switch, the room swung back to normal.

  “I can break him.” Torn’s voice was so bland, he could have been commenting on the weather.

  “Are you sure that’s wise? He’s resisted every time. Now that he’s turned—”

  “Are you questioning my judgment?”

  Vin hunched over further, drawing away as shame heated his cheeks. Compulsion. So that was what it looked like from the outside.

  Kai had experienced its dreadful power from Shasta—softly spoken words that cut through him, dissolving logical thoughts and melting resistance. Fascinating. Horrifying. He had to think, get out of here.

  Torn slapped Vin on the shoulder. “Inject him. Double dose. I want him to appreciate every nuance of this occasion.” He turned to Kai. “We are going upstairs. I have a display planned that you might find quite fascinating. If that doesn’t change your mind, I have Plan B.”

  “Which is?” The injection stung and the substance hit his bloodstream, shifting the walls to green-flecked obsidian and making his brain dance inside his skull.

  “You become darKound food. Suits me, either way.”

  Kai followed him from the room offering no resistance. It was hard enough to walk upright, let alone make a run for it. Besides, if he complied, maybe the vigilance of his captors would slack off. He kept his eyes to the floor, shuffling along, wired inside for an opportunity. Cement melted to lava glass beneath his feet. Drug-induced Affinity had a sharp edge to it, like glass shards falling through his brain.

  Kai gritted his teeth against the pain, and his mind turned murky. He was hoping for a glimpse of Runt. The girl was resourceful and brave. But then she was only a girl.

  On the roof, all the holding cell covers were open. Green light beams shone upwards through the glass panels, lighting the sky in a sickly glow.

  Vin tied Kai’s hands to the high wooden arch extending from the corner of the building, a single curved beam held in place by cables. Ironic that he’d be tied to one of the fake instruments that he thought was so cheesy the first time he saw this place.

  The cables ran off horizontally, six of them in total, connected to another curved beam on the opposite end of the building. It was the strangest railing, falling off this rooftop would be easy. His mind picked at it, turning it this way and that. Was it for something more than safety? He tried not to scratch his fingers, the itch was getting worse. Between the infection, or whatever it was, and the drugs in his bloodstream, his LifeLight was dimming.

  Torn shoved him to his knees. “Enjoy the show. Afterwards we’ll talk.” Torn towered over him, frowning as if faced with a complex puzzle. Another two green lights had come on since they’d arrived on the roof.

  Torn signaled and one of the men marched toward a green light shaft close to the middle of the roof and pressed a button with his foot. The glass panel retracted and the base of the tube shot upwards with the whine of a hydraulic lift. It stopped with a click, level with the roof. A girl huddled in the centre of the circle. She looked small, vulnerable.

  Kai’s heart caught in his throat.

  Six Sons stepped forward at her arrival, surrounding her.

  Kai squinted to see. They moved out of the way as the girl stood to her feet.

  Zee’s hair was greasy and limp, she stood bowed under the weight of the LightSuckers’ wrapping. She lifted her head for a moment, and her eyes were cloudy and vacant.

  One of the six ran over to Torn and leaned close to whisper, “The others want to know if we’ll be waiting for Shasta.”

  Torn scowled and shoved a finger in Kai’s face. “Don’t move from here.” He strode across the rooftop until he stood in front of Zee.

  The Son who’d come to question him was close behind. The other Sons shifted to make room for them.

  Torn lifted her chin, whispered in her ear. His actions were gentle, but Zee’s response wasn’t. Refusing to look at him, her hands clenched and unclenched, feet spread wide in a fighting stance. Torn shook his head and pointed towards one of the green tubes. He held up a warning finger. Whatever Zee was about to do she was being forced under threat.

  Torn withdrew, motioning for his men to move away.

  Zee rubbed her hands, shut her eyes to focus, drew a deep breath and flung her arms wide. Nothing happened.

  Torn moved closer to the green tube and pulled a blade from his pants pocket. It glinted green in the pale light.

  Zee’s face was a mess of panic and determination. She shut her eyes once more and stood motionless, arms stretched wide. Three heartbeats later the green shafts of light from the holding tubes bent toward her, stopped short before touching, and slid sideways around her as though she were standing in a glass bowl. Green beams hit from all directions, sliding, converging, circling Zee. She began drawing them toward herself even quicker. They met and spun around her until she stood in a vortex of glowing green.

  She brought her hands together with effort, clasping them palm-to-palm. As she pulled them apart, electricity shot between them, widening to form the vertical schism between realms.

  Crackling filled Kai’s ears. The air in front of her split vertically, rotated horizontal, and peeled back with a hiss. Through the shimmering doorway was the exact place he’d gone to get back to the waking world—the desert outside the burning gates, the Darklands. Whatever he’d been injected with seemed to be wearing off, and the distinct look of cement began seeping through the obsidian beneath his feet. None of it made sense.

  Hissing, tapping started soft but built to deafening and filled the air. The noise bounced and reverberated all around him, but Kai couldn’t see what was causing it.

  Zee’s hair blew wildly as the green beams spun around her, faster and stronger than before. Her eyes were shut tight, arms stretched out.

  A darKound tumbled through the opening. It pitched forward, rolled, found its feet. It stumbled, dazed, but recovered in a few heartbeats. A second followed soon after, and then a third. Soon they were streaming through too quick to count, filling the rooftop. The obsidian had completely transformed back to cement, but the darKounds—normally invisible from this side—were clearly visible. All the green light beams bent toward the opening now, feeding it and growing it, giving it a life of its own. Zee had been the catalyst, but she wouldn’t be needed much longer. Kai had no doubt she was dispensable.

  To them, maybe, but not to him.

  Kai had to do something, but his Affinity had stopped working, and his LifeLight was all but gone. His arms were a mess of dripping, green itchiness. A sea of darKounds stood between him and Zee. Trying to get to her that way would be suicide.

  Tau, I don’t know what to do.

  He studied his surroundings. There had to be something he could work with. The arch he was tied to curved up high, shaped much like the neck of an instrument. Trying to rescue either Zee or Runt from the rooftop would be plain idiocy, but if he could get below to the room full of green tubes, there might be a slim chance of pulling this off. Getting to the door that led off the roof was a no-go. The wires—they might just be the answer.

  Torn stood watching the gate, face enraptured by the sight of streaming darKounds. All the other Sons stood guard alongside him.

  No one paid any attention to Kai. For once, he was happy to be forgotten. Using his body to compensate for lack of control of his arms, he pulled back, angling his hands just right. The ooze acted like grease, and after tugging, his hands slipped free. He ran to the cables, feeling foolish for trying it with his hands in this mess.

  He w
as losing feeling in his fingers now, and they oozed green slime that dripped to the floor and left puddles. Useless for climbing. Elbows would have to do. Kai slung an arm over a vertical cable, held a horizontal one for support, and gingerly stretched over the edge to see if there was some way of getting to the floor below. It wouldn’t be clever to leave the roof without knowing if there was a ledge and an open window. As he leaned over the edge, the cables pulled taut and a clear note rang out, cutting through the snarling chaos on the rooftop.

  Kai cringed and swung back onto the roof, mentally kicking himself. So much for staying under the radar.

  A pack of three darKounds halted, turned to him, and sniffed the air. The biggest, a sleek animal, muscles knotted under its blue-black skin, stalked towards him, growling. The other two were smaller, but just as vicious. They took the cue and followed. Their claws scraped on the cement, and the hiss of their acid paws left smoking prints.

  Kai edged away but their eyes followed each move. They reached pouncing distance and dropped to a crouch as one, muscles bunching. Kai thought he might faint.

  Nowhere to go, give up. You’re making it worse for your friends, stop fighting. Nothing you do can make a difference. Running is useless. What are you thinking? You’re no hero, so quit pretending. Who do you think you are? Your own mother didn’t want you. What makes you think these people want your help?

  Each accusation felt like a fresh dose of acid poured into his heart.

  They were right. Running would be useless. He stood tall, waiting. Kai frowned. Each accusation felt like it was eating him alive. But was it really?

  He may not be the best choice for this battle, but he was here, and inside his broken shell blazed LifeLight that could do everything he couldn’t.

  “Nice try, mongrel.” His legs shook in his jeans, but he forced himself to stay there.

  With a loud growl all three launched at once.

  At the last second, Kai dropped to the floor.

  They collided with the cables on either side of the wooden structure, making them sing. A perfect C chord. The noise—music—rang out across the rooftop. The three darKounds attacking him dropped and rolled on the floor, whining and rubbing their heads as if they were trying to block their ears.

  30

  Evazee stood inside the swirling green vortex. Obey or see her friends suffer. Obey or die. Those two things were one and the same.

  Her mind was shutting down, veiled in deep heaviness. Burnt. Scarred.

  Too much to face.

  Better not to think.

  The doorway crackled before her, behind her, through her...

  Each darKound that came through tore another piece off her soul.

  She was sliced up and split apart.

  Shredded.

  Her resolve gave way and she was on her knees, and then falling. The world tilted sideways and the ground held her up.

  Surrender.

  Dark.

  A clear note rang out, sliced through the chaos. For a moment, light blazed through her, clear and lucid. Her heart beat, its rhythm strong and true. Virtue poured into her. Goodness. Clean goodness washed over and in. The music hung weightless for an eternal moment. Eva could breathe.

  But it faded and the dark rolled back in.

  Mind dimmed.

  Heart slowed.

  Please! Keep playing!

  She was a nomad glimpsing an oasis. But she’d die before getting to it.

  ~*~

  DarKounds writhed at his feet.

  Kai stared at them, stunned. He’d seen some strange things, but this...

  It could be that they’d knocked themselves silly colliding with each other, but the way they pawed their ears hinted at his music being the problem. The sustained notes softened and faded. It wouldn’t be long until there was silence and that meant they might recover. The cables lay flat across the wood, bunched together close enough that he could form a chord if he tried. Kai pressed down—left hand fingers slipped. Useless. With his right hand, curled and in pain, he struck the cables. A low buzz, no notes that he could recognise.

  The darKounds were on their feet and growling.

  Kai hummed to himself to block them out, focusing on the cables. He positioned his stiff fingers with his right hand and tried again. Press. Strum.

  A chord rang out. With it, a miniscule bit of strength dribbled through his fingers.

  He tried again. Chord. Strum.

  This one sounded more like music, the notes clear and distinct.

  Kai kept going. The words of fire from the bubble in the rock came back to him and he put it to the tune that had haunted him for weeks now. The burning, fiery words fit the melody, the rhythm.

  He started over, stronger this time. The itching in his arms was as bad as ever, but the green oozing had stopped. His hands were drying up. He played the riff again, leaving the cables, his strings, singing long after he’d taken his fingers off. Not daring to see if this was affecting anyone but him, he played again, singing along softly this time. By the end of the verse, his eyes shut and he sang at shower volume, shutting out the commotion behind.

  He had to see if Zee was still OK. Kai turned around. The three darKounds who’d been stalking him had left. They must have rejoined the pack. There was no way of picking them out from the rest. One of the green tubes had changed to amber.

  Zee lay flat on her back below the flickering doorway, spread out as if asleep. Fed by tubelight, the doorway seemed to be self-supporting and stable.

  There had to be something else he could do.

  The cables vibrated beneath his fingers, sound waves danced off them, into the atmosphere. He squinted and tried to see the far side. It looked like another one of the oversized instruments.

  The darKounds paced around each circle of light. They stuck to the green, the amber one they avoided. The last thing Kai wanted to do was attract any attention, but he had to move now if he was to try. He doubled over, running like the monkey boys did—knuckles on the floor, hoping he was short enough for the low wall to hide his silhouette.

  The structure attached to this side of the building curved away from the corner in a deep bowl. The music he’d played earlier hung in the air like drifting bubbles on the wind. He forced his stiff fingers down, shaped a chord, and plucked a melody with his other hand. It was clumsy, messy with his damaged hands. He wished he’d never been so keen on fixing things, that he’d left that plant to die. He took a deep breath and tried again. Pure notes rang out. A shudder passed through him from head to toe, and electricity zapped up and down his arms, burned along his fingers.

  Music from both corners met in the air and mingled, growing in volume. Kai sprinted to the third corner. He managed to form the chord on the third try, plucked the melody. A quick glance showed nothing had changed behind him. The light stayed green, swirling around Zee as she lay dreadfully still. The doorway pulsed in the vortex of the energy that she’d unleashed.

  He’d been a fool to think it would make any difference. But what else could he do against a roof full of darKounds? One more try.

  He ran with cautious confidence. DarKounds were too busy to notice him. He was mere steps away from the fourth instrument. This one was built like a drum set, just waiting for someone with skill and a pair of drumsticks.

  Whether it was the music or his footfall, he’d never know, but the entire sprawling roof-full of darKounds turned as one. Leaving their posts at each tube, they flooded in to fill the space between him and the last instrument. Hundreds of midnight bodies, pacing, snarling, staring at him with glowing eyes. He’d be ripped to shreds if he dared go close.

  Kai held onto to the wall. His instincts screamed at him to back off. A twitch started in his eye as he faced the dark ones, stumped. Why didn’t they attack?

  Energy danced across Zee’s body in green shocks.

  There was no way to fix this.

  Words echoed in his head from days ago...a lifetime ago...what is on your feet, Kai?


  His feet slipped out of his shoes and he faced the darKounds barefoot, one shoe in each hand. Their eyes glowed cold in the semi-dark.

  Pulling his arm way back, he threw.

  The shoe flew past the structure, straight off the roof. No! He sucked in air, adjusted his stance slightly to the left, and threw. The shoe sailed through the air, followed by every darKound eye. His shoe struck the bass drum section dead centre. A thumping boom echoed across the rooftop, setting off a chain reaction in all the drums. It shuddered through the cement and sent vibration through the soles of his feet, all the way to his thigh muscles. The entire building was constructed to be one giant instrument. Who knew what music from a building this size could accomplish?

  The four corners—instruments—all played at once, raising an anthem. It built to a swirling crescendo, each note drawing the next from the other instruments. The music took on a life of its own, not relying on his fingers, but each instrument bouncing sounds off the others, drawing, coaxing, responding. Soaring music swelled, gathering impetus, a storm but not destructive. A tempest of Life that left a flood of healing in its wake.

  Sound waves danced through Kai, and he looked at his restored hands. Healed hands. The green was gone. A second green tube flickered to amber, then a third. The amber light was spreading and bringing chaos with it.

  DarKounds rolled, covering their ears and whining.

  Then the doorway was shrinking.

  The door closing with all the darKounds on this side would probably be a bad thing. A very bad thing.

  Reverse the flow. Could he do it?

  Nearby, one of the Sons lay thrashing. He clawed at his face with his fingers until he bled, eyes rolling back in his head.

  No time to lose. Kai sat on the Son’s legs, pulled off his boots and hurled them at the drum, one at a time. They both hit, square and true. A double rhythm kicked through the atmosphere. Warlike and urgent.

  Kai ran to the other three corners, working in reverse to the way he’d struck them first. Back to their full dexterity, his fingers flew over the strings, pumping pure LifeWaves into the air. The atmosphere on the roof shifted, but the doorway still inched closed.