The Veil: Corruption (HASEA CHRONICLES BOOK 2)

by Stuart Meczes

  “That’s it, Danny!” I shouted encouragingly. I spoke too soon. His eyes snapped open and – realising he was airborne – he gave a shout and frantically cycled his feet like he was trying to ride an invisible bike. He crashed back down, tumbling forward onto his knees. I gave him my hand and pulled him to his feet. “Not bad at all for a first attempt,” I said. “Let’s try that again without the blind panic.”

  He rolled his eyes and moved back to the same position and repeated the process. Soon he was up in the air again and slowly rising. “Okay Danny,” I said, keeping my voice low and calm. “When you’re ready, open your eyes and press your hand against the glass to help guide you up.”

  He didn’t reply, but after a few moments, his eyelids fluttered open. He kept his head fixed forward and tapped out his arm, which was trembling. He found the glass and pressed his fingertips against it. He kept rising into the air. I looked down at the readings. Thirty-six feet.

  “Gabriella, I can’t go any higher!” Danny shouted down. His voice was reedy. He was trying not to freak out.

  “No, that’s fine. Danny, you’re doing really well. What I want to do now is raise your other arm slowly from your side. It will help you levitate more.”

  He edged his other arm out, and as he lifted it, his body rose further up inside the arena. His fingers squeaked on the glass as they slid up. I glanced back down at the Biomote. Fifty-three feet.

  Larik leaned over. “Looks like you have a bit of a natural there.”

  “Looks like it,” I agreed.

  Danny started to pass the other Chosen – including the boy with the shaved head. The recruits on the ground muttered with a mixture of awe and jealousy. He reached the top of the arena and drew to a halt. He waved his hand about, trying to touch the glass. I looked down, but already knew what the Biomote would say. Eighty feet. I gave a smile. He already has maximum control of his gift.

  “I can’t feel the glass anymore!” he yelled down.

  “That’s because there isn’t any left. Don’t look down!” Hollie shouted up, finishing with a mischievous smile. Ivy shot her a disapproving look, but the damage was done. Danny looked down and let out a wail. He dropped like a stone, just managing to grab onto the lip of the glass in time. He clung on like an amateur base climber, scrambling to climb up, but his trainers kept slipping down the smooth pane.

  “Help!” he shouted.

  I cupped both my hands around my mouth. “Danny, relax! If you fall, we’ll catch you. I promise. But if you relax, you won’t fall. Just calm down and you’ll be fine!”

  “Yeah, you try relaxing up here!”

  I waited for him to settle. After a minute or so, his voice seemed less panicked. “I think I’m okay.”

  “Alright, Danny. Let go of the side.”

  He took a moment to compose himself and then pulled both hands away from the glass lip. Instantly he dropped down, the loud squeal of his soles on the glass matching his fearful scream. Larik and I ran forward to catch him, but he got control a few metres from the ground. He sank himself down until he was on solid ground and hunkered down, trying to catch his breath.

  I walked over and patted him on the back.

  “Not bad at all. Now for the hard part.”

  *

  I spent the next few hours teaching Danny how to use his hands to propel himself forwards once he was levitating. At first he couldn’t move more than a few inches. Then he tried too hard and ended up firing himself across the arena and smashing into the glass on the other side with so much force it made everyone wince. But after a while, he got better, and soon he was able to very unsteadily navigate backwards and forwards. But he refused point blank to go higher than twenty feet.

  “I am not ready to do that again,” he said, shaking his head when I tried to convince him to levitate to maximum height. “Another day.”

  As Huntmaster, I could have forced him, but I didn’t want to come across as a bitch. Besides, he was doing well, and I was confident, once it came to his Trials, the competition would make him get over his fear. And afterwards, when he’d settled into his role as Guardian, he would start to use all his abilities naturally. It always happened that way.

  I tapped a few keys on the Biomote and stared up at the floating recruit. “Okay Danny, let’s work on going backwards again. If you—”

  I was cut short when my body was gripped by Faru’s mind link, and I cried out in shock. The harsh convulsions ran up my body; I was powerless until they settled.

  Everyone around me stared. Danny lowered himself down and ran over. They were talking, but I wasn’t listening. The Sage appeared in front of me, looking bloodied and borderline frantic.

  “Gabriella, listen to me,” he barked before I could utter a word. “Alexander has been thrown from Obsidian.”

  The horror of his words hit me like a cannonball. I tried to speak but words wouldn’t form in my brain. I was vaguely aware of my mouth dropping open.

  “He is falling right now. I have had the pilot link Alex’s Biomote with yours so you have his exact coordinates. They should be with you any second. Go there now, and do what you can to save him. Go!”

  He vanished and I felt the jerk as he left my mind.

  I ran.

  Ivy and Larik shouted after me, but I ignored them. There was a harsh buzz in my palm, and I lifted the Biomote with a shaking hand. Danny’s information screen had been replaced by a flashing radar, with longitude and latitude displayed in bright green letters below.

  I tapped to zoom in on the radar. A wavy line appeared on the screen. The dot was in the centre.

  He’s heading right for the Thames!

  I tapped a few keys, using them to locate the nearest Nexus exit.

  Tower Bridge. Right in the heart of London.

  Still running, I linked to Delagio, trying to keep my voice from cracking. “Grab who you can. Bring Kapre belts. I need you at the Nexus entrance now. Alex is in serious trouble,” I blurted down the line.

  “On it, boss,” he answered without preamble.

  As I hung up, I was vaguely aware of Danny following close behind.

  “What—” he shouted breathlessly.

  “Stay here,” I interrupted without turning.

  “No, I’m coming with you…maybe I can help,” he replied.

  I wanted to ask him what he could possibly do to save my soulmate who was hurtling at a hundred miles an hour towards certain death. But I didn’t have time to argue.

  “Fine,” I shouted over my shoulder as I wildly sped through the gardens towards the mansion. I burst through the front doors so hard, one of the hinges snapped off.

  Delagio and Grey were already standing by the main Nexus entrance, pinning the elevator doors open. Without asking questions, Delagio threw the Kapre belt he was holding to Danny. “Scarlett’s belt. She won’t leave Mikey.”

  I didn’t reply, but piled into the elevator and stabbed the button for the Tower Bridge exit. The doors rolled closed, and soon I was watching my panicked expression in the mirrored elevator walls as we sped through the Nexus.

  “What’s happening?” asked Grey as he helped Danny attach the belt over his joggers.

  I breathlessly explained, watching as the colour drained from my teammates’ faces. We all fell silent. Words were useless now. It was all about action. My heart threatened to rip through my chest. I couldn’t stop my leg from jigging up and down nervously on the thin carpet. It’s taking too long!

  The elevator car suddenly dove down at a sharp angle and then moved forward at a slower pace. We were underwater now. I could hear the creaks and groans of the tunnel exterior as it withstood the colossal strain of tons of city water. We slowed to a crawl and then the elevator cranked upwards again.

  Come on. Come on!

  There was a winching sound as a seal retracted to allow us access. The unmistakable sounds of waves breaking filled the interior. I could hear them sloshing down the sides of the elevator as it broke the surface. The eleva
tor spun around 180 degrees and then the doors slid open. I jumped out onto a narrow ledge, and the others followed. A hydraulic plinth supporting the elevator sank back underwater into the tubed opening of the Nexus. In seconds, all signs of it were gone.

  We were inside one of the supporting feet of Tower Bridge. It smelled damp and mouldy. The only light came from a single bulb that had been fixed to the slick green wall overhead. It created deep shadows that loomed large in the dank space.

  “God, its cold,” whispered Grey.

  I couldn’t feel anything. I was part Succubus, so temperatures didn’t bother me.

  All I cared about was getting to Alex on time.

  “Activate your belts,” I ordered as I clicked mine.

  I pressed a stone tablet that bore the HASEA emblem. There was a click, and a narrow doorway opened in the wall. As I stepped out, I noticed that we emerged into an area difficult to see from both sides. Discrete footholds had been carved into the stone. Without a second thought, I jumped as high as I could and grabbed hold of one of the recesses and then heaved upwards, alternating between vaulting and repositioning. The others followed close behind, Danny making no secret about the fact that he was terrified.

  All I could think about was that we were too late. That any moment I would hear a tremendous splash and watch as the only boy I had ever loved died without ever knowing I was a few hundred yards away and coming to save him.

  Please don’t be…

  I scrambled onto the bridge and hopped over a run of fences that matched the vibrant blue of the overhead supports, painted in honour of the Queen’s silver jubilee. The road was thick with traffic, black cabs and tourist buses dotted in among the everyman car. I pulled the Biomote from my pocket and used it to guide me forward like a compass.

  My stomach clenched with fear.

  He’s so close.

  I weaved through the traffic and onto the other side of the bridge. Clearing the barriers, I stood on an extension of the bridge opposite the hidden Nexus entrance. I stared upwards into the sky.

  Nothing.

  I squinted, holding my hand over my eyes, and scanned the area. The others spread out across the bridge, leaning out and staring up at the sky.

  I didn’t need Delagio to shout to know I was on the wrong part of the bridge. I’d noticed the people on the embankments gathering into crowds and staring upwards. Some were armed with phones or cameras and were aiming skywards, trying to capture whatever was happening.

  I was already running as Delagio screamed my name. I vaulted over cars, barely staying on my feet as I tried to force myself to run faster than my legs would allow. I reached Del and stared upwards.

  I saw Alex. Falling.

  He was a dot in the sky, growing larger by the second. He was falling fast. I could barely breathe. Fear seized my throat and lungs like cancer, threatening to squeeze the life out of me. I scanned around, searching for a way to save my soulmate.

  It was only then that I realised I was useless to help him.

  Even if I jumped as far as I could, I would still miss him by a long shot. And by a bizarre miracle, if I did manage to time it perfectly and actually reach him, I’d never be able to slow his decent. He’d still die, and I’d probably be killed too.

  If that’s the only way I can be with him, so be it… I blinked the thought away. Think, dammit!

  “Delagio, can you lift a car or something up to him? Use it to slow his fall?”

  The Kinesist’s face was alabaster white. He shook his head in an almost confused way. “No ah can’t, Ella. My powers wouldn’t reach anywhere near that far.”

  I turned to Grey. “Can you use your Pyromancy on the water, churn it up to make the landing softer?”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I can try, Huntmaster. But I don’t think it’ll work. Besides, the Thames is twenty feet deep max at this time of year. If we don’t slow his fall, he’s going to smash into the riverbed like a comet. Nothing I do is going to make much difference.”

  “Shit!” I screamed. Tears were stabbing at the edges of my eyes. “Oh god, what can we do?”

  Alex had become more than a dot now. He was a clear form, falling through the clouds. People on the bridge had abandoned their cars and were moving to the edges of the bridge, leaning over the railings to see what the fuss was about. Like a bizarre Mexican wave, they began to unload phones from their pockets and bags to record the phenomenon. The sounds of their gasps and shouts became a cacophony of noise that I had to blot out so I could think.

  “How high is that?”

  I turned to see Danny pointing upwards at one of the iconic towers that made up part of the bridge.

  “About two hundred feet,” answered Grey in a shaky voice.

  “Would I die if I fell off?”

  Del seemed to know what was going on before I did. He stepped forward. “No, Danny. No you wouldn’t.”

  The recruit let out a long sigh. “I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”

  He moved away from us and sprinted to the nearby tower. He lifted his arms out to his sides and clumsily began to levitate. As soon as he was high enough to reach one of the window ledges, he grabbed and pulled himself onto it. Then he started to climb, mixing levitation with frantic leaps of faith that left him dangling like a cartoon character. I could hear his petrified yells the whole way down. I felt so nervous I thought I was going to be sick. The whole time Alex was growing larger, hurtling down like a ragdoll towards the river.

  Danny reached the roof of the tower and scrambled up one of the spires. His foot slipped and he sent a stone cross careering down into the river. It landed with a loud splash and sent a wave of cold fear running though me. I had to double check Alex was still in the sky.

  “Sorry!” he shouted as he lined himself up for the next jump. He had to make it from the outside spire to the main steeple. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he leapt off and smashed into the roof, sending tiles spitting down onto the bridge below. They fell in a rain of ceramic. As I stood frozen in fear, Delagio and Grey acted instantly, guiding humans out of harm’s way. Each one cried out in confusion as the tiles smashed onto the tarmac, and they looked around fearfully – but saw nothing.

  Danny had reached the top and was straddling the upmost spire. He looked down and then pressed against the cross in absolute terror.

  “I hate bloody heights!” he screamed down.

  “Danny, please!” I screamed back.

  He unwound himself slowly, and then perched on the highest cross. With a mixture of removing his grip, clutching, and removing again, he finally summoned enough courage to stretch out his arms. In an instant, his feet had broken free of his makeshift perch, and he was rising into the air. He rose faster until he was moving in the opposite direction almost as fast as Alex was falling. Soon he was hovering eighty feet above the highest point of the tower. He could go no higher, so he stopped and stared up at Alex, clearly trying to get his timing perfect. He had one shot.

  Alex was moments away from death. He was so close now I could see his hair, rippling frantically in the wind. I held my breath and silently recited the Pater Noster prayer Papa had always spoken every evening before bed. It wasn’t an appropriate prayer – it was irrelevant to the situation, and I wasn’t even a believer. But I had to do something.

  Pater Noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum.

  Danny started to edge his hands behind himself, the way I’d told him.

  Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra.

  Delagio and Grey stood transfixed; they were staring up at Alex for what could be the last time.

  Anem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hod—

  Danny wrenched his arms backwards, propelling himself forward. I could hear a scream and was vaguely aware it was coming from me.

  Danny timed it perfectly. He hit Alex square on and there was a thunderous crack as the two collided. They flew several hundred yards down the river. The crowd let out
gasps of disbelief. What they would be seeing defied all logic.

  Danny was trying to take the velocity out of the drop, but it was too powerful for him. He had to do it in short bursts, which made the pair do giant bunny hops through the air, all the while sinking closer to the river. I heard the recruit let out a furious yell, and they both shot fiercely upwards in one final burst. Then they corkscrewed sideways and hit the water hard, skimming like stones before landing with a splash that soaked all of the spectators standing on the embankment.

  I’d dived into the water before I even knew what I was doing. I cut through the waves like a blade, kicking my feet and dissolving into a rapid front crawl as I tried to cover the distance and fast. There were two more splashes behind me. I opened my eyes and felt the sting as the dirty water washed over them. But as a Chosen I could see better than most.

  Please be alright. Please be alright.

  I repeated the words like a mantra as I carved my way closer to where they had both hit. I dove deeper and stared into the gloom, searching frantically for signs of Alex. I couldn’t see anything, and I was running out of breath. I could feel my lungs screaming for air, my natural survival instincts kicking in, wanting me to surface…

  Then I saw them. Alex was spread-eagled on the riverbed, half-hidden under a coating of brown sludge. Danny was floating face down nearby, fingers tracing the dirt as if he were searching for something.

  I swam straight to Alex and pressed my lips to his. I had barely any air left in my lungs, but I gave him what little I could. Then I set about getting him out. He was imbedded in the mud, and it took all of my strength to pull him out. He came unstuck with a wet sucking sound so loud I could hear it even underwater.

  Dislodging Alex unleashed a swirling cloud of dirt. I grabbed him around the waist and turned to look for the others. All the while my lungs were threatening to give out. All I wanted to do was breathe. My brain was clouding over. I couldn’t think straight. Breathe, Gabriella, just take one breath, my traitorous mind commanded me.

  I saw Grey and Delagio drawing closer. I pointed at Danny. Grey nodded. Then I kicked upwards, carrying Alex with me and using my free hand to scramble at the water. Anything I could do to get us out of the dark, dank water that wanted to spill into my aching lungs. I pushed for what felt like eternity, even though it could only have been twenty feet. My arms were growing tired, and my legs ached, but still I kept going, refusing to let Alex down. I saw the surface and lifted Alex above me so that he would break first. I followed and gasped, taking in as much air as I could suck into my lungs. A bit of foul-tasting water lapped into my mouth, and I choked, coughing it up. I placed my fingers under Alex’s chin and forced his mouth open. His cheek had been slashed, and blood spilled onto my hands, mixing with thick muck and grime.