Souljacker

by Kodilynn Calhoun

  “Once we get moving, it’ll cool down in here,” a younger girl with a blonde pixie cut says.

  MaXXX turns the key and the bus kicks beneath us, the engine roaring to life like a gargoyle under the moonlight. It lurches forwards as he puts it into gear and then we’re onto the gravel road that leads out of Polaris.

  I’ve only been in Loren twice in my entire life. Both times were during a hunt. The most recent was when we took down Supersonic Scream girl and as we pass the spot where Lylan tranqed her, I feel a pang of regret.

  What does the Unseelie queen want with the Mithos, anyway? Why would she sic her cyberhounds on them? From what I’ve seen, they’re just a bunch of kids with strange abilities; they aren’t doing any harm and they surely aren’t dark enough to warrant her attention…

  MaXXX parks in a mostly empty lot, the nose of the bus turned towards the road. “Okay, guys. We need to get the usual stuff. Since a couple of you haven’t done this before, Caddie, why don’t you go with Lake’s group.” Caddie and Lake exchange a pleased look. “Iofiel, Lucy? You’re with Josh.” Fog boy nods and gives me a thumbs up. “Sync, you’re with my group. Let’s get this done. No goofing around. Diesel wants us in and out, smooth as silk. Got me?”

  The bus erupts into a chorus of agreement and MaXXX pulls the crank. The bus doors gape open with a squeak of metal and once our feet hit the pavement, we gather into our respective groups.

  MaXXX, Sync, and a couple of girls take off in one direction in search of supplies like toilet paper, tissues, and bandages; Lake, Caddie, and two others go in the opposite for perishable food stuffs.

  Josh stretches the kinks out of his back and turns to us. He motions to a pair of older teens that are unmistakably twins: They’re both tall and wiry and have the same blonde hair, a dash of freckles, and green eyes. And they’re both staring at me in disbelief.

  “Lucy, Iofiel, these are the Carver twins. Cullen and Milla.” When they don’t say hi, Josh shoots them a look. Cullen shrugs one shoulder and Milla flips her hair. Josh shakes his head and smiles at me. “Can’t say they’re the warmest people you’ll ever meet.” The twins don’t respond.

  Josh sighs. “Come on, guys. We’re in charge of canned and boxed foods. Crackers, soups, canned meat. You know the stuff. Here.” He pulls out his wallet and hands us each a handful of bills. “We’ll split up. Milla? Why don’t you take Lucy and Iofiel and go down to Loren-Mercer Grocery and get the boxed stuff. Cullen, come with me.”

  Milla glances between her brother and Josh, then eyeballs us as if we’re dog poop she’s going to have to scrape off her shoe. “Come on,” she says on a sigh, stalking off. Lucy rolls her eyes and bumps up against me and I force myself not to laugh. Talk about having a broom shoved up her ass.

  We follow Milla to a little grocery story right off the main highway, cars whizzing past, horns blaring. I hear someone whistle and twist around just in time to see Lucy flip a tall guy on a hover bike the bird. I can’t help but grin. “I love you.”

  “Of course you do,” Lucy sing-songs back.

  Milla snorts. “I don’t wanna hear your lovey-dovey shit. What you have is unnatural. Corrupt.” She spits the word with vehemence, spinning on her heel to face us. Her hair is wild around her face, tangling in the wind thrown off the highway. She points her finger at me. “You shouldn’t even be around, and…ugh. Just do us all a favor and go back to the bus to wait. You’ll just slow me down.”

  She snatches the money from us and storms off, hands fisting at her sides. The sliding glass doors to the grocery store whir open to let her in. Then she’s gone.

  “Someone needs an attitude adjustment,” Lucy says.

  “Agreed.” We lapse into silence, our fingers twined together, arms swaying gently between us. I feel peaceful for the first time in awhile. We pass a storefront and I catch sight of my reflection. I look human with the Realskin glove and the face plate that Diesel carved for me. I look like just another boy walking around town, holding hands with the beautiful girl he’s lucky to have.

  Then I see something that sends cold chills shivering down my spine. My hand clamps around Lucy’s and I drag her after me. We duck down an alley and press up against the wall as a broad-shouldered guy saunters past. It’s the gleam of his metal arm under the sun that entraps my attention. Lucy sees it to and after he passes, she hisses out a couple of curse words that I shouldn’t repeat.

  “Is he one of yours?”

  “I’ve never seen him before in my life.” My heart thunders behind my ribcage. Maybe he won’t recognize me with my mask… Maybe. “We need to get out of here.”

  “What about the others?”

  “We’ve gotta find them. Tell them there’re hounds patrolling Loren. Goddamnit, we shouldn’t have come! This is too risky. I don’t want to lose you, Luce—” I feel wild as the words escape my mouth. Lucy places her fingers over my lips to silence me, then kisses them.

  “You won’t. C’mon, let’s go find MaXXX.”

  But when we find him, he only laughs. “Take a chill pill, sweetie. We’re fine. As long as we don’t use our powers and surge, they’ll never be able to tell us from all the humans milling around.”

  I clench my jaw, my teeth grinding together hard enough to make them ache. “You’re a fool. You don’t know the Pack like I do.” I growl at him. “Sync, come on. We need to get out of here.”

  Sync nibbles on her lower lip, glancing between me and the coolly calm MaXXX. Then she nods and gives Lucy a quick hug. MaXXX sort of sneers and waves us off. “Whatever. Go back to the bus. We’re nearly done anyway.”

  “Come on, girls.” I take off at a jog. If the hounds attack, I’m putting that metal beast into gear and high tailing it out of here, group or no group. Lucy won’t get taken away from me. I refuse to let that happen.

  We pass Lake’s group with armfuls of grocery bags. I grab Caddie by the sleeve and tug her close enough for me to murmur in her ear. “I saw a cyberhound. We need to get back to the bus as quickly as possible, but without raising suspicion.” Her dark eyes grow round and I squeeze her arm. “Get your group to speed it up a little.”

  But I don’t see Josh or the twins anywhere. I keep walking, my gaze skimming a big group of people chattering on cell phones or yapping to friends as they meander down the sidewalk, unaware of the dangers lurking in the shadows.

  I glance to my left, only to see Sariel, his blond curls tossed by the wind and his gaze trained on me. Intent. Shit. He doesn’t move an inch, but my throat is dry as sandpaper. I try to swallow, fear making my heart skitter in my chest. We’re screwed. If Sariel’s here, Lylan won’t be very far behind.

  Lucy yanks me back to the present, but I don’t give her a chance to speak. I grab her hand in mine and bolt. The bus is just around the corner—we can make it! Lucy and Sync barrel along beside me and I hear a keening scream rise up from behind.

  No. Please don’t let this happen.

  “MaXXX!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Sync doubles back for him and Lucy screams her name. I retain a vice grip on her wrist, hauling her after me, but not before I see the panicked glimmer of tears in her eyes. We reach the bus in a matter of breathless moments and run up the steps. I head for the window to see Lake, Caddie, and their group racing this way. A few of them have dropped their bags in their haste, but it’s obvious why.

  Hulking black cyberhounds snarl at their heels, baying for blood. My head pounds. I can’t breathe. “Stay here,” I command, then hurry down the steps just as Lake’s group shove past me and onto the bus. I hear Lucy call my name, but I can’t slow down. My feet slap against the pavement and I’m changing mid-stride, trading skins, and it’s almost glorious to have four legs again. Almost.

  I slam my body into the closest hound and he snarls as we roll across the pavement. I feel rocks scrape my back, but I’m on my paws immediately, my fangs sinking into his throat as I tear. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the rest of the kids being herded towards the bus by MaXXX, who�
�s turned halfway around, lobbing silvery energy balls through the air. They smash into their targets and the cyberhounds shriek their displeasure.

  I feel the surge ripple through the air like heat shimmering on hot asphalt—Goddamnit!—and the ground is quickly covered in a layer of icy mist. It swirls around us, thick as pea soup and clammy against my fur.

  My tooth pierces an eye and foul liquid floods my mouth. The hound I’ve just wounded cries and I break away from him and take off for the bus. I can barely see; I’m just running in that general direction. The bus engine sputters to life ahead of me and Lucy’s voice shrills high above the clamor of everyone else: “We’re not leaving without him!”

  Someone wails in terror and I know I’m close, gaining on them. The bus lurches into sight, but I can’t slow down, so I slam into the metal side. I bounce off, pain lancing through me, and the doors swing open. I clamber into the bus, avoiding the open-mouthed, wide eyed stares of the Mithos all around me. Lucy breaks out of Caddie’s grip and wraps her arms around me in a bear hug and my body trembles with the letdown.

  MaXXX peels out of the lot hard enough that the tires shriek. He’s yelling over his shoulder, taking control of the situation. As commanded, Caddie and Cullen lean their bodies out the windows on either side of the bus. Fire shoots from Caddie’s fingertips at the hounds who’ve taken chase. I catch sight of Josh, eyes pressed shut, his hands poised in the air. Concentrating.

  The headlights barely cut through the fog all around us.

  After several minutes of silent driving, the bus barreling 85 down the highway, someone says, “I think we lost them!” and the bus erupts into whoops and cheers. Nervous laughter fills the space around us and I slowly shift back, sitting on the rubber runner in the aisle of the bus.

  I find my feet and make my way to driver’s seat. I clamp my hand down on MaXXX’s shoulder, using more force than necessary. “We shouldn’t go back to Polaris. It’ll lead the hounds there and the camp will be a sitting duck.” My voice is tight, strained.

  MaXXX meets my gaze, holds it, and then flicks his wrist in a way that causes sparks to ignite a wildfire in my gut. Anger simmers deep inside of me as I stare at him. “It’ll be fine. You worry too much, sweetie.” His words are matter-of-fact, coolly spoken, as if we haven’t just escaped a brush with death.

  “You’re a fucking idiot.” The words rumble from my throat in a growl. MaXXX’s eyes widen and the slight scent of his fear touches my nostrils. I tighten my grip on his shoulder, claws tipping my fingers. He winces and I whisper, “If they find us, I’ll have your ass. Promise you that, sweetie.”

  Then I stalk back to where Lucy and Sync are sitting. No one speaks for the rest of the trip. When we park, I’m the first one off the bus, slicing through the cloud of tension. As people begin to unload the supplies we managed to bring with us, bags in their arms, I grab Caddie and Lucy and pull them aside.

  “We need to leave before things go south. I’ve got a bad gut feeling about all of this.” We need to get out of here, fast, because if my Pack finds us… I don’t even want to think about that.

  Caddie shifts her weight, scuffing the toe of her shoe along the grass. “Maybe it’s stupid, but…I really wanna stay.” She refuses to meet my eyes when I look at her. “I don’t know how to explain it to you, Iofiel, I just…”

  I glance at Lucy, who looks torn. “We fit in here,” she says softly and it’s like I’ve been kicked in the gut. The air wheezes out of my lungs and I can’t inflate them back up again. The worst part is, I know it’s true: They’ve considered themselves freaks for so long, and to finally find a place where they belong… How can I take that away from them when that’s everything that I want?

  “…Fine. We’ll stay for now, but the minute I smell bad news, we’re leaving. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Lucy’s eyes soften and she hugs me. “I know you will,”

  I scratch the back of my neck, nerves making me twitchy. “I’m gonna go tell Diesel what happened before MaXXX has a chance to butcher the story. Hopefully we’ll be able to avoid this mess.”

  I leave the girls to their own devices. I find Diesel tinkering on an android with the Realskin peeled away to reveal wires and circuits underneath. I tell her everything and she frowns and hmms to herself during my story. Then she wipes her hands clean on the rag sticking out of her back pocket. “I’ll make an announcement over dinner. I’ll see if I can’t get Gale to set up a couple extra wards, get us off the radar. Don’t look so down. It’ll be okay.”

  If it’ll be okay, why does my world feel like it’s caving down around me?

  Chapter 28:

  Lucy

  I wake to screams, panicked and raw. The thick scent of smoke jolts me fully awake and I sit up in bed so fast that my head spins. Girls are shrieking and running around the room like chickens with their heads cut off. Fallon is trying to calm them down, yelling over the tops of the fearful cries.

  What the hell’s going on? “Caddie? Sync?” I yank my jeans on, looking around. Sync reaches my side, her hair a frazzled mane of fiery curls around her face. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re saying it’s an ambush, Luce. We have to get out of here!”

  My heart pangs. God, Iofiel was right all along. I could kick my own ass for not listening to him. Shit! “Where’s Caddie?”

  “I don’t know. A couple of the kids ran off to try and hold off the hounds.”

  Fallon runs up and clamps her hand down on my arm, her lips set in a grim line. “We’ve been compromised—the cyberhounds are invading Polaris. They’ve set fires, trying to smoke us out. We need to get to the bus now. We need to get out of here. Grab anyone you can and head that way. We’re leaving.”

  She breaks away, shouting as she herds the younger girls out of the cottage. I see tear-streaked, red faces and hiccups of fear as they run like helpless sheep away from the danger that is the wolves. Or rather, the hounds.

  “I can’t leave without Caddie and Iofiel,” I tell Sync and she nods, resolute. We dart in the opposite direction and I find myself engulfed in battle. Fire crackles, eating away at the mess hall, leaving charred remains in its wake. The smell of burning wood and flesh touches my nose, tickles the back of my throat, and I want to retch. “Caddie!” People scream out, angry war cries, and energy crackles in the air.

  She’s throwing fireballs left and right, backing away from the damage. She glances my way and I wave at her. She shouts something that I can’t understand and hurries towards me. Her hands are hot as she grabs me, shoving me towards the bus. “We can’t keep them out—we have to go, Lucy, c’mon!”

  “What about Iofiel?” Fear makes my voice thin and tinny.

  “He’s with Lake and Josh. Come on!” She wraps her hand in mine and squeezes and we take off towards the bus. Diesel’s at the wheel and kids are piling in, packed like sardines. The bus isn’t made to accommodate this many people, but what other choice do we have?

  “Who’s left?” Despite the edge of panic in her voice, Diesel is calm and in control. Fallon does a quick head count and rattles off a number and Diesel frowns. A little girl curls up in Sync’s lap, sobbing heavily, her hands clenching Sync’s shirt. Sync looks lost as she rubs the girl’s back.

  I can’t just sit here! I can’t! I climb out of my seat and reach the doors, but Diesel grabs me. I wrench out of her grip, tears making my eyes blurry. “I can’t leave Iofiel behind,” I say by way of explanation. I hop down the steps and race back into the streets, which are filled with snarls and growls as the cyberhounds grow closer.

  I see a streak of rust fur as Chip barrels across the yard, throwing himself against a wiry black hound. The fight is nearly silent, deadly so, Chip hanging on to the other hound’s throat with all of his strength even as the hound tries to shake him off. He’s clamped on tightly and the cyberhound staggers, suffocating. It isn’t until the beast falls and stops moving that Chip lets go.

  He lifts his head and sees me and for a moment, I fe
el a trickle of fear. He just stands there, watching me, and it’s eerie. Then his tail begins to wag and he runs towards me. He’s at my side, his entire body wiggling, and I rub him down with my hands. “Good Chip, good boy!” His splotched tongue laps at the air near my face.

  “Luce!” Sync shouts and before I can grab Chip’s collar, he pulls out of reach and runs towards the android. I bolt after him and grab him around the middle, hauling his heavy ass off the ground. I grunt and hand him to Sync, who holds him like a baby despite his thrashing.

  “Get him on the bus. We can’t leave him behind,” I tell her. “I’ve gotta find Iofiel!”

  “He’s already back on the bus, Luce. You’re the only one left. Come on!”

  Her words make my heart do a flip in my chest. She runs effortlessly, carrying Chip like he weighs two pounds instead of eighty. She climbs up the steps and deposits the dog at the back of the bus and kids crowd around, hugging and petting him.

  The doors slide shut behind me, but I’m scouring the crowded bus, searching for him. We see each other at the same time, our gazes locked, and I crash into his arms. He wraps them around me, holding me tightly, and we sink into a seat that’s already got three people sitting on it. I sit pretty much in his lap, my legs dangling into the aisle.

  The bus jerks to life, rumbling down the dirt road, jarring us around like a bunch of bobble-head dolls. Iofiel holds me close to him and I snuggle in and steal a kiss, which he gives without a word. “I’m so sorry, Io,” I murmur, kissing his jaw. I should’ve listened. We should’ve left last night.

  “It’s okay, Lucy. We’re okay.”

  For now, I think, but I can only nod.