by H. D. Gordon
The moment of distraction cost me, and a beefy forearm encircled my neck, a large body pressing close to me from behind. I gasped as the air was cut off from my lungs, my feet lifted off the ground. I sent an elbow to my assailant’s midsection, but hard abs absorbed the blow, his grip on me only tightening.
Darkness crept around the edges of my vision. I dug my nails into his arms, wriggling and squirming until he’d angled our bodies how I intended. Then I raised my legs and kicked off the wall he’d unwittingly turned us toward, hard enough to send him stumbling backward. I brought my head forward and slammed it back into his nose. It crushed beneath the back of my head, and he grunted in pain, his hold on me finally relaxing.
Then he was on the floor with the rest of his comrades.
I expected them to keep on coming, but I guess the Brokers had only sent twenty people, thinking that was more than enough to get the job done. I could see how they’d think that, as these supernaturals were highly trained in combat. But it wasn’t long before we sent them running.
The ones that could get up hopped back out the shattered window, dragging the ones that could not along with them. “Traitor,” one snapped at me before following the others, and I rolled my eyes at the insult.
I went over to the broken window just in time to see that they were jumping through a portal.
“Yeah, you better run!” I called out, smirking at my own stupid self.
Once they were all gone, disappearing as suddenly as they had come, I turned and surveyed the damage. The room was a mess. Broken furniture and vases, pictures ripped off the walls and blood on the carpet. The glass from the shattered window lay sprinkled over it all like a fresh snow, and even the chandelier on the high ceiling above was swaying as if someone had taken a swing from it.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked, checking my friends over for injuries.
While their faces were flushed with adrenaline, no one seemed to have sustained any real damage, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
“How the hell did they find us?” Thomas asked.
I shrugged, my hand slipping unconsciously toward my pocket, checking to make sure the Relic was safe.
Remy nodded toward my hand. “I would wager that that thing you stole puts out a signal. It wouldn’t surprise me if every supernatural within miles is on their way here right now.”
Thomas muttered a curse.
I nodded. “All right, then. We need to move. We can’t stay here. If not other supernaturals, the Brokers will definitely be back, and next time, they’ll bring a legion.”
Nick and Vivian both nodded as well, as sure of this as I was. If there was one thing the superiors at the Peace Brokers did not accept from their soldiers, it was failure.
Everyone began to gather their things. Sam and Matt emerged from the back hallway.
“Is it over?” Sam asked, her eyes wide behind her glasses.
“For now,” I said. “But we need to move quickly.”
“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Matt mumbled.
Raven rolled her eyes, already heading toward the exit. “Try not to jizz yourself, fanboy, and let’s get moving.”
“Wait a second,” I said, glancing around the gathered. I did a head count, and my stomach dropped. I looked back at Sam and Matt. “Where’s Clare?”
Sam looked around her. “She was right behind us….”
Matt retreated back into the hallway to check, but my sixth sense was way ahead of him, so when he returned with a forlorn look on his face, it only confirmed what I already knew.
“She’s gone,” he said.
We searched the cabin and the surrounding area just to be sure, but Clare was nowhere to be found, and I had no doubt that the Brokers had taken her.
Even though I hadn’t known her that long, I felt as though Clare had been my responsibility, and I had failed her, so leaving the cabin without her was difficult. Especially when I thought about where the Brokers might have taken her, and what they might be doing to her.
Memories of a sterile room flashed through my head, and I shuttered in the passenger seat of the SUV Thomas was driving. He reached over and took my hand when he noticed my face.
“We’ll get her back,” he said.
I nodded, but this didn’t ease my guilt. Poor Clare. She’d gone from one horror of a Broker facility to the next, and whether we got her back or not, she would never be the same.
“It’s not your fault,” Thomas added. “None of this is your fault.”
I sighed. “I love you.”
Thomas kissed the back of my hand. “I love you, too.”
Sam leaned up from the back seat, her strawberry blond head appearing between us. “Where are we going now?” she asked.
I drew a deep breath, looking at the road ahead. My hand gripped the Relic in my pocket, my fingers tracing possessive circles over its smooth surface.
“Well, if they’re going to track us anyway, I’d rather have this fight on my own turf…. It’s time to go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Grant City.
It was funny how quickly the place had become home.
I knew the skyline the way a babe knows the profile of its mother, knew the smells like a lover’s perfume. This was where it had all begun, and it seemed fitting that one way or another, this was where it would all end.
Thomas joined me at the end of the dock on which I was standing, an obscure location that offered breathtaking views of the city, but that was rarely frequented. He held out a black metal box.
“What’s that?” I said.
“It’s called an arca, and my agency uses them to contain questionable material. It’s made out of alien metals, and is supposed to be able to block everything placed within…. I thought maybe you’d want to put the Relic inside.”
When I pulled away from him, my eyes narrowing and my hand clutching at the stone in my pocket, I knew that the Relic had some strange magic, indeed. Though it knew it was not the case, I felt all of a sudden that Thomas was trying to steal it from me, to take it for himself.
He raised one dark brow at my reaction. “Or not,” he said, lowering the box.
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t know what’s… It’s a good idea, worth a try.”
I removed the Relic from my pocket and couldn’t help but stare down at it for a moment before placing it in the box. Once Thomas snapped the lid shut and sealed the thing inside, I felt kind of ridiculous for my behavior.
He held the box out to me, and the way my hand reached so eagerly for it gave me pause. I took a small step back, though every nerve in my body urged to pull me closer. “Maybe you should hold onto it for a bit,” I said.
Thomas didn’t question this. He nodded and tucked it into his jacket. My eyes followed every movement.
“Huh,” I said. “I think it worked.”
“How do you know?”
“The Relic has an aura signature. I could see it even when it was in Sapphira’s stomach, and I can’t see it now that it’s in the box. It’s like it disappeared.”
“Wish I would have thought of this earlier then…. Who’s Sapphira?”
My heart ached a bit as I thought about the Firedrake. Already my time in the City of the Seers seemed like a dream. “Tell you what, if I live through this next part, I’ll tell you everything.”
Thomas pulled me close, the familiar scent of him wrapping around me. He placed a kiss on my forehead. “Then I look forward to hearing it.”
Thomas stooped and picked up a bag he’d set down beside him. “Almost forgot,” he said, and pulled out a brown paper sack. The smells hit my nose and my stomach growled audibly.
I snatched the sack as though it were the Relic and peered inside. “No way,” I said. “How?”
Thomas offered one of his rare half smiles, his face so devastatingly handsome that if he weren’t careful, I might decide to eat him instead. He shrugged. “I didn’t see why you should wait
.”
I pulled out the foot-long chili cheese dog and tater tots, my mouth watering at the sight of them. I looked back at Thomas, blinking away the stupid moisture trying to gather in my eyes.
“God, I love you,” I said.
His smile was full now. “Good,” he said.
The Masked Maiden.
It was funny how I thought of her as someone separate from myself, how when I slipped on the black suit, mask, and cape, I almost became another person. Pulling on the outfit now felt oddly like coming home, like all the moments of my strange life had led me here, and that I didn’t need to be afraid. I thought maybe that was because the Maiden was all the best parts of me, all the things I wished I could be if I only had the courage, and if I couldn’t face whatever lay ahead, then maybe she could.
Then, again, if the damn guardian would show up already, maybe we could skip this whole mess. But Lady Luck had never been my homie like that, so I wasn’t counting on it.
We were all gathered in the old abandoned building that had once been Grant City’s Central High School, until the newer building was opened fifteen years ago on 51st street. It was eerie, the empty classrooms and lockers, the stray books, desks, and chairs that were left behind. No one else had attacked us, however, and it had been nearly twelve hours, so I thought the box we’d put the Relic in might be working.
But tracking us didn’t matter, because the Brokers had Clare, and I had no doubt they were going to use her and perhaps other innocent people to lure me out.
Now, my friends and I were hunkered down in what used to be the school library, the smell of old books and mold owning the air. I stood staring down at my Masked Maiden suit, the box with the Relic sitting on the table beside it. The others were sharing pizza at another table nearby, but Sam sidled up to me.
She slipped her arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into her embrace.
“I never thanked you,” she said quietly.
I sighed, kissed her forehead. “You don’t need to.”
Sam was quiet for a while, and I didn’t have to check her aura to know that it was because she was trying to hold it together, and if she spoke just then, tears would likely accompany the words. She was trying to be strong for me, which was as adorable as it was endearing.
After a few deep breaths, she said, “But I do need to, not just for what you did with Saleos, trading your soul and all that…But for being nice to me when no one else was, for encouraging me to follow my dreams, for being the only one who believes that I’m special, for protecting me and standing up for me, all the way back when our biggest problem was being bullied by Andrea Ramos.”
Now it was my turn to swallow back tears, my throat constricting.
“So thank you, Aria Fae,” Sam said. “Not just for saving my life, but for being my best friend, for being the sister I never thought I’d get to have.”
I pulled her to me, wrapping her in a hug to hide the tears that slipped free. I swiped them away quickly as I spoke into her soft hair. “Thank you for being mine, too, Sammy,” I said. “I love you so much.”
Sam sniffed, holding me tighter. “I love you, too.”
When we separated, I saw that the others were all looking at us, and the sadness in their auras was such that I had to look away. One by one, they approached me.
Matt was first. “You’re the coolest person I know,” he said. “I always wanted to be part of something bigger than me, so thanks for letting me do that.” He pulled me into a hug, his curly brown hair a soft cloud against my cheek.
Then, Raven. “I hated you at first,” the Succubus said, red lips pursed. “But I think that may have been because I was jealous. You’re just so damn good all the time, and you make me want to be good, too.”
Remy followed after, placing his hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently. “I’ve lived a long time, Aria Fae,” the Demi-God said, “and I’m glad it was long enough to meet you.” He gave my shoulder another squeeze, his voice lowering. “You got this.”
Vivian, the prim and perfect half Vampire who’d been brave enough to defy the Brokers, sniffed twice before surprising me with a hug. She held on tight enough that I cleared my throat, her Vampire strength a little crushing even for me.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, pulling back. “I’m just…I also like you, Aria. If not for you, I would probably still be with the Brokers, following orders and living a lie.” She swiped a tear off her cheek and kissed mine. Reaching into her pocket, she handed me the last portal orb they’d taken from the Brokers. “Just in case,” she said. “Remember to toss it up into the air if you have to use it. Don’t just hold it. Otherwise, it will suck you right in, and it’s kind of painful.”
I took the orb and stuck it in my pocket, nodding.
Nick was waiting behind her. My heart ached as I took in the face of the boy I’d loved for as long as I could remember, the one who’d taught me how to fight, how to survive. The same redheaded, brown-eyed boy who’d competed with me for first place in our trainings, who had nursed my wounds and snuck me extra rations when the superiors had punished me by withholding food. The first boy I’d ever given myself to, the first one I’d let myself truly trust. What Nick and I had was not like what Thomas and I had, but that didn’t make our love less real. Just different.
We stared at each other for a while, two Halfling Fae who’d found out that the world was not what they’d thought it was. He didn’t say a word because he didn’t have to, and neither did I. Our auras spoke for us, as I supposed they always had. I squeezed my eyes shut when he kissed my forehead, breathing in the familiar scent of him, willing myself not to crack under the weight of so much love.
Once they’d all retreated, I stood alone, studying the faces of all those I loved, trying to commit them to memory. If I failed, and had to spend eternity as Saleos’ pet, would I forget these faces? Would the love I had for them fade with time, after they were all long gone? Would I still be me, or would the process turn me into a shell, someone unable to feel as a result of self-preservation?
I didn’t know the answers to these questions, and I could only hope that I would never find out.
Thomas came to me then, slipping his arms around my waist and holding me close. In his arms, I felt safer than I’d ever known, even when my whole world seemed to be hurtling toward an end in front of me.
“That wasn’t a goodbye,” he said quietly. “They just want you to know they love you, that they’re with you, no matter what.”
I nodded, swallowing past the lump that had formed in my throat.
Over by the pizza table, Sam’s tablet began to ding, and we gathered around as she looked down at it, her fingers flying over the screen.
My heart picked up in pace as the color drained from Sam’s face. “What is it?” I asked.
“You were right about them luring you out,” she said, and turned the screen of the tablet toward me.
My jaw clenched and my hands tightened into fists. On the screen was Clare, her brown hair blowing in the wind, pretty face streaked with tears.
She was tied to the top of Turnkey Tower, the second highest point in all of Grant City, and a beast as blue as the sea was perched beside her.
“It’s time,” Thomas said.
I nodded, scooping up my Masked Maiden suit and sparing one last look at the faces of those gathered.
That wasn’t a goodbye, Thomas had said.
But I knew in my heart that it was.
Chapter Thirty
The wind tugged at my cape as the lights of Grant City came to life.
Sirens blared, the police telling people to get off the streets, to lock themselves in their homes.
I ran, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, a shadow against the darkness of the falling night. I held the image of Clare in my mind, letting it fuel the anger growing in me. I was so sick of the people around me becoming targets because of the selfish greed of others. No matter what, this would end tonight. No more running and hiding, no more beating
around the bush.
I felt strong and capable, my staff tucked into its holster in my suit, the Relic tucked into another. I’d debated about whether or not I should bring the latter along, but in the end had decided not to part with it for a few reasons. The first was that the others argued that it was safest with me, and because Vivian said the Guardian would be seeking me out, so I needed it close. The other reason was one I didn’t care to probe too deeply, and that was because I was reluctant to give it up. I wasn’t sure if it had some sort of hold over me or not, but my gut insisted that I keep it near.
Red and blue flashing lights appeared ahead. I forced my feet to move faster. I could see the top of Turnkey tower, along with Clare’s terrified aura. All around the city, fear was spiking, in fact, as the citizens of Grant City realized that they were once again under attack. Businesses were shutting down early, people hurrying back to their houses and loved ones, fleeing the trouble, while I ran away from my loved ones and toward the trouble.
The roar of a beast in the near distance brought up old memories, those of a crumbling bridge and screaming people, of me holding a Halfling child in my arms, watching him take his final breaths. When a second roar joined the first, my heart skipped a few beats. I could take on one beast, but two?
A dark shadow passed overhead, and I slowed for a moment to glance up. Remy grinned down at me, face cast into shadows, save for his white smile. “Need a ride to the top of that thing?” he asked, massive wings stirring the air.
“Hell yes I do,” I said, and leapt over the edge of the rooftop on which I was currently running. My feet hung over open air, the ground forty feet below, before I was snatched up in Remy’s strong arms. Then we were soaring up and up.
“I got your back, girl,” the Demi-God said, holding me close as we drew nearer the tower. “I’ll grab Clare and take her to safety. You go tame those beasts.”
