by Theresa Kay
I open my mouth to respond and am silenced by her bitter laugh. She sidesteps away from her brother, turning her ire on the both of us. Her voice drops to a singsong whisper. “Your stupid humans did not even think to disable my kitu. The Vi’askari are on their way here right now.”
It is as if I have been doused in ice cold water. “We have to get out of here,” I say, my voice soft. “If Vitrad finds me here…” My mind spins. I would not get away with only bruises and a bloodied nose. And he may be unbalanced enough by now to go after Stella as well. No one here is strong enough to stand against him.
Rym places a steadying hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “She is bluffing. If what she said were true, there—” He closes his eyes for a second, then inhales sharply. “They are close.”
The humans, who have been watching our interaction—one side with disdain and the other with curiosity—now simply look confused.
“Who is close? What the hell is the erk talking about, Mitchell?” the man called Ulrick asks.
The color in Adam’s face has drained away and he glances at his two E’rikon… friends?… before choosing to speak. “They’re somewhat telepathic. That’s why I told you to make sure the girl was properly sedated before taking her.”
Redness rushes into Ulrick’s face and he grits his teeth. “Telepathic? So one of these erks could be crawling around in my head, stealing all our military secrets, and you didn’t think to tell us this beforehand?”
Adam shakes his head. “It’s not what you’re thinking. They can’t read human minds. They can’t even read each other’s without… permission.”
“But they can call others to our location?”
Adam nods.
Ulrick presses his lips together and narrows his eyes. “Load up, boys. We need to get out of here quick.” The men behind him point their guns in our direction. “We’ll be taking the erk bitch back into our custody now.”
Matt and Adam glance at each other. “What are you talking about?” asks Adam. “We only came for the child. We’re not taking a pregnant female out of here. My lab isn’t set up for that. There’s too much risk to her baby outside the barrier and I don’t—”
“We’ll do what I damn well say we’re going to do, Doc,” Ulrick says, and the other men snicker. “I have full discretion over this mission, and it’s my opinion you’ve become a bit too comfortable with the aliens. I’m not the only one with that opinion either. I’ll be taking custody of both specimens and requesting you be removed from this project completely. In fact, you like those scaly bastards so much, why don’t you just stay here with them?” He raises his gun, points it at Adam, and fires.
THE WARMTH IS STARTING to leak from Flint’s body, leaving him—it—a lukewarm empty shell. They haven’t been back. Still, I stay. I can’t muster the desire to move, much less actually do it. The effort of holding back the darkness, of holding on to the fragile thread of sanity that remains to me, has left me exhausted. And with each second that passes, the call of that molten rage, the call to give in, the call to give up… it becomes more tempting. What a useless mess I am.
Clink.
What was that?
Clink.
It’s coming from the window. Who cares. It’s probably rain. I laugh, a crazed sound, and tilt my head back to rest against the wall. Not going over there. I close my eyes instead.
A few minutes later, there’s a thumping crash from the same direction, sending a jolt of surprise through me. What in the—?
“Oh no.” The words are pushed out in a soft sigh. “Jax… we need to get you out of here.” I open my eyes to find Emily standing over me, sorrow dripping down her cheeks.
“What’s the point?” I say quietly. “I’ve lost. He’s gone. Flint’s gone. I’m gone. I… I killed him.” Raising my hands in front of my face, I study the blood crusted around my nails and dried along the lines of my palms. “His blood… It’s all my fault. I should have known. I should have stopped him. I should have… I should have…”
A tremor starts in my fingertips and travels through my body until my legs are bouncing against the floor from the force of it. My throat loosens. My stomach turns. Vomit burns its way up and out and out and out.
I’m dry heaving now, Emily’s hands holding back my hair. She rubs circles on my back. It doesn’t help. I don’t deserve it anyway. Even when I close my eyes, all I see is red, gushing, flowing, dripping, splashing… And my hands are covered in it.
I jump up, finally on my feet, and wipe my hands frantically against my pants. Get it off. Get it off. Get it off. A high-pitched, strangled scream escapes my pursed lips and echoes in my ears. The sound turns into a wheeze as my lungs fail. There’s no more air.
I’m gasping, open-mouthed, but can’t get a breath. Nothing’s moving but my fluttery hands rubbing rubbing rubbing…
Clean fingers wrap tightly around my hands and squeeze gently, and jumbled words fight for my attention.
“… can’t stay here … have to … delayed … be back …”
Two hands on my shoulders, shaking me. My heads whipping back and forth on a limp neck.
“Jax! … together!”
Spots swim at the edges of my vision, a consequence of my air-starved body.
Thump. A hand falls against my back. Thump. And again. My lungs stutter, a gasp, a trickle of air slithers in, then out in one long rush. More drawn in by my shuddering diaphragm. And out.
“That’s it. Again.”
All my concentration focuses on my next breaths. In and out. In and out. The spots recede, the frigid rush of panic fades, and second by second, I gradually come back to myself. That’s still not a place I want to be, but giving up now would mean Flint died for nothing. And that, more than anything else, I can’t accept.
I can’t let Jastren get away with this.
Jastren… His name fills me with a burning hatred, and my growing anger clears my head. At least enough to turn my focus to revenge.
“Where is he?” I croak out, my throat sore from the claws of fear.
“Who?”
My voice rises with each word until the last one comes out in a screech. “My—no. Where is that red-haired erk bastard?”
Emily’s gaze travels the room, pausing on Dane’s slumped form. Her eyes widen and she starts to stammer. “I—I—I’m not sure.” She pulls her eyes away from the desk and looks at me. “All I know is he somehow helped Dane get back in and then, clearly, turned on him. Bree managed to get me released not long after you left, and I was heading to where Gavin and his men were being held when the alien came striding through the east gate with some sort of entourage of his own. A couple of Dane’s men challenged him and—” Her eyes dart back to the desk and then to the floor. “Your brother slit their throats without even pausing, said he was here for his sister and no one else better get in his way. I guess Dane… got in his way.”
I press my lips together and nod. Long slow breath out, fanning the flames of my anger, keeping my head clear. “And then?”
She shifts on her feet, opening her mouth and pausing before speaking again. “Everyone started to panic, so I made myself scarce until things quieted down. Then I went again to find Gavin. Dane’s men had been called away to help with whatever skirmish was going on over here, so it was easy to get Gavin and his men out without being noticed.”
“Where are they now?” With the state I’m in, I may need their help.
“They’re waiting outside the west gate. In the woods. I knew Jace was here and he’d watch out for you, but after everything you said about Jastren I told them we shouldn’t leave without checking on you and…” Her voice trails off and her eyes dart to the still form on the floor. “I’m so sorry.”
I close my eyes and flex my hands. Deep breath in through my nose. “Not your fault,” I choke out.
Her arm comes up around my shoulders. “It’s not yours either. You couldn’t possibly have known Dane would do something like this. At least he’s dead now. Jace
did that for you.”
She thinks her words are helping, but it’s as if she punched me in the stomach. The air rushes out of my chest in a noise that’s half groan and half laugh. “Oh, I know Dane wouldn’t have killed Flint… because he’s not the one who did. Jace is.”
She gasps.
The longer I stand here, the weaker my legs and my hold on my emotions grow. I’m up. I’m on my feet. And now I need to get out of here. I can’t take on anyone in the state I’m in, and I won’t put any more people I care about at risk. “Stu? Ethan?”
“They’re with Gavin and the rest, but—”
“We need to get out of here. We can—go to Peter’s or something. If Lir…” A pang of longing and worry flows through my body, followed by a screech of angry doubt ringing through my head at the mere thought of his name. How can you trust him?
Because he was there when I needed him. He may not have been able to stay, but he tried. I felt it.
I shove away the lingering whispers of suspicion and swallow. “Lir’s in the city. It might be safe there by now, but I’m not sure. Probably not. I don’t… I don’t…”
“We’ll figure something out,” Emily says quickly. “Let’s just go before someone comes.” I nod, not trusting myself to find more words. She walks to the window, swings her legs over the sill, and jumps. Guess that’s the best exit for me too.
I pause by Flint’s body, kiss my fingers, and press them to his cheek. Then I wrap myself in cold resolve and use it to propel me to the window and down to the ground without looking back. There will be time to grieve later. Right now, I need to keep moving. If I stop to think, if I do anything but move forward… I will fall apart. And this time I won’t be able to put the pieces back together.
Emily holds out a coat. She must have stashed it behind the tree before she climbed up. At my questioning look, she says, “I figured it might be good to disguise you or something. And now, since your shirt’s covered in blood…” She doesn’t wait for me to take it. Instead, she holds it open and helps me thread my arms through, then pulls up the hood. “Try to keep your head down. I can probably get us out of here, but I have no clue what’s going to happen when we run into people. And you tend to stand out.”
She links her arm with mine and leads me around the corner. She sets a leisurely pace, which is much too slow for my taste. My instincts scream at me to slip between the buildings and run, to get out of here as fast as possible, but Emily takes me directly down the sidewalks, nodding greetings and flashing smiles at those we pass. It’s nerve-wracking.
Anxiety tenses my muscles, and Emily reaches her hand out and pats the arm intertwined with hers. “Take a breath,” she says quietly. “Hiding in plain sight is our best option. I don’t know who’s on our side and who’s not, but nothing draws suspicion faster than frantically dashing around.”
She’s right. No one’s given the two of us a second glance so far and we’re already halfway to the gate. I concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and calming my rapid heartbeat.
Eight blocks left. Then seven. Six. Five. Four. The gate is in sight and there’s no one standing guard. Not much farther.
Someone walks up on my other side, squeezes my bicep, and falls into step beside us. I glance at the newcomer from the corner of my eye. Bree. “Two men I don’t recognize have been following you for the past couple blocks,” she says. “They haven’t tried to sound an alarm or anything, so I don’t think they know anything specific, but something about you caught their eye.”
Emily inhales sharply and my arm goes rigid.
“Just keep walking,” Bree continues. “They don’t seem awfully concerned about you getting past the gate.”
As we draw closer to the gate, the reason why the men aren’t worried about us leaving becomes immediately clear. At least to me. It’s faint, and nowhere as distinctive as the one around the city, but there’s a barrier in place just inside the gate. Jastren has created a cage for his new conquests—using the kifa I was stupid enough to give him.
But wait. Didn’t he say—
He LIES!
The thought is a scream in my head, pushing past the fog of my grief and shattering the wall of distortion I didn’t know was there.
A subtle shift. The quiet snap of a fragile string. It’s not the same as the feeling when the bond broke, but I know it for what it is: the breaking of a connection to another. My steps falter. Something Jastren said to me at our first meeting in the rubble of the E’rikon research facility echoes in my mind: Familial links are different.
A horrid realization washes over me: Jastren has been in my head for… for… I don’t even know how long. Not quite as firmly planted as he would have liked, but there all the same. Whispering in my mind. Feeding my doubts. Poking my fears. Prodding my anger. He’s been doing to me what he did to Jace, just to a much lesser degree.
How many of my thoughts and decisions have been driven by him? How much of the current circumstances can be attributed to his manipulations?
Emily yanks on my arm. “Keep moving,” she hisses.
Right. There will be time to deal with that later. Right now I need to get the hell out of here. The farther away from Jastren I can get, the better.
Neither of the two girls at my side has noticed the slight shimmer ahead of us, but it shouldn’t be a problem. At least not for me. If I can go through the barrier at the city, I can go through this one too. And Emily and Bree will be fine as long as they’re with me. I hope.
Of course, what will happen if I’m wrong is anyone’s guess. Is it better to warn my friends or just do it?
“What is that?” Emily says.
Too late now. Decision made.
“It’s a portable barrier,” I reply. “Like at the city. Jastren must have brought it with him.” Both girls pause, and it’s my turn to tug on them. “Don’t worry. I can get through, and as long as you’re with me, you’ll be able to as well.” I think.
“Will I… will I be able to get back in?” Bree asks.
“I don’t know. Not without me for sure.” I watch her in my peripheral vision. “Why would you want to anyway?”
“My little brother’s still at home. He’s fifteen, and he doesn’t have much time before Dane—”
“Dane’s dead,” I say. “No one has to worry about him anymore.”
“Dane’s dead?” Bree’s eyebrows rise.
“There’s no time to talk about it right now. Are you in or out?” Emily says. “You need to make a decision. If you turn away right before we get there, it will look strange.”
“I…”
Where are you? My connection with Jace is back, but having my brother in my head is not a relief. His voice is flat and cold, laced with something worse than the blind rage from earlier: complete apathy. As if he no longer has emotions. As if the Jace I knew is gone and all that’s left is a puppet that sounds like him. Never mind. Found you.
I take a deep breath. My eyes burn, and I have to swallow twice before I can speak. “I think we need to run now.”
A group of men comes around a building to our right, moving quickly to intercept us. But they won’t be quick enough.
Emily, Bree, and I run the last block. The crack of a gunshot comes when we’re only feet from the barrier. Emily stumbles, but she’s still holding my hand, and momentum keeps her moving forward. That same sharp pain from outside the city presses at my temples as the three of us rush through the barrier.
SEVEN MEN. SEVEN BULLETS. They fired nearly simultaneously.
Ulrick’s bullet hit Adam in the lower left side of his abdomen and turned his body enough that the second shot missed. The third and fourth went into Linx’s head and chest. Kill shots. The fifth went through Rym’s upper arm as he pushed Trel to the side. The sixth missed Karo completely. And the seventh grazed my temple, leaving a narrow furrow that weeps green blood down the side of my face.
Matt, the only one on our side who had a gun, drags Adam behind some boxe
s, then stands and return fire. Our attackers retreat, Ulrick giving us a mocking salute as he and his men turn the corner.
With Stella.
After a plaintive look from me, Trel shakes her head, presses her lips together, and redirects the Vi’askari to follow the escaping humans, so for now we remain undetected. But for how long?
Adam breathes in sharply as Karo presses a wad of fabric against the wound in his side. There is plenty of blood, but Karo appears to be hopeful about Adam’s chances—if we can get him to where his wound can be treated.
If any of us can get out of here at all.
“So, any more bright ideas? Any more of those helpful human friends of yours around?” Rym wheezes between clenched teeth as he clutches his arm, his eyes squeezed shut and a grimace on his face.
Matt scowls. “This isn’t a time to make jokes.”
Rym cracks open one eye. “I was shot. I believe I am entitled to do whatever the bloody hell I please if it makes me feel better. The alternative is to listen to me blather on about how much of an idiot your boss over there is. Your choice.”
Matt mumbles something under his breath and rolls his eyes.
With one of Adam’s arms around his shoulder, Karo assists the human into a standing position. Adam is pale, his features strained, but he is up and moving. “We need to get to the trucks before they take off with them,” he says. “There’s no way I can make it back to base on foot.”
“Back to base? Why in the hell would we go back there after what they just did?” asks Matt. “Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?”
