The Burning Shadow

by Armentrout, Jennifer L.

  I held on.

  “A stun gun?” She twisted my wrist again, and that was it. My fingers sprang open. I had no control. She quickly snatched it up. “The only thing that would do is really piss me off.” Letting go of my wrist, she stepped back and tossed the stun gun into the trash. “Here I am, being polite and patient, and you—”

  Snapping the chain of my necklace, I ripped the obsidian pendant free as I launched myself at her. The move must have caught her off guard, because she didn’t move and took the brunt of my weight as I crashed into her, slamming the obsidian into her chest. Skin gave way with a sickening suction sound. Wet warmth met my fist as April started to topple backward—

  Suddenly, I was in the air.

  Flying backward, I slammed into the wall beside the window. Air punched out of my lungs as I fell forward, my knees cracking off the tile. I caught myself a second before face-planting on the dirty, nasty-as-hell floor. Panting, I lifted my head and stared through the strands of hair.

  The obsidian pendant was stuck in her upper-left chest, too high to have hit her heart. Dammit.

  Dark, inky blood spotted her white sweater as she reached up and gripped the obsidian. “Really? Obsidian?” She dropped it on the floor. “Do you think I’m an Arum? Because if so, that’s kind of insulting.”

  I pushed down the panic crawling up my chest, threatening to choke me. “What the hell are you?”

  April moved so fast.

  One second she was standing by the sinks and the next she was kneeling in front of me, her fingers curled around my chin, forcing my head back. “I’ll give you one good hint.”

  Her fingers dug into my chin as she reached around to her back pocket and pulled something out. For a moment, I almost didn’t recognize what she was holding between her slim fingers.

  It was a picture.

  A photo of a little blond girl with a man—a man I’d been told these last four years was my father—and a woman I knew as my mother.

  It was one of the missing pictures from the photo album.

  Holy crap. “You were in the house—you took the photos.”

  “Yeah, it was me.” April flicked the picture at me, and I flinched as it smacked me in the face and then fluttered to the floor. “I suspected it was you after you started defending the Luxen, so then I helped myself to your house and found these photos. Interesting. That girl looks a little like you, so I thought maybe it was you. Weirder shit has happened, you know? But then you started hanging out with that Origin. Luc.”

  My heart was racing so fast as she leaned in. Her lips brushed the corners of mine as she spoke. “I wasn’t supposed to be exposed yet. I had my purpose. You’ve already figured out what that is, but you went ahead and ruined it with that stupid camera of yours.” Her grip tightened, causing me to cry out. “You have no idea how much trouble I got in for that.”

  There was no way I could speak with her fingers digging into my jaw, holding me in place. I threw everything I felt into my glare. Every ounce of hate and fury poured out of me.

  “So, what do I call you? You’re obviously not Evie Dasher. That’s what I can’t figure out,” she continued, and I had no idea what she was babbling about. “Who the hell are you? That makes you very, very interesting to me.” She laughed. “But we’ll know soon. Everything that I’ve done, that we’re doing, is the price of the greater good. A war is coming, Evie. The great war—the only war—and we will level the playing field.”

  April sounded insane.

  “We are going to make the world a better place.” April let go of my chin, and I fell back. “You and me.”

  “The only thing I’m going to do is straight up kill you.”

  April cocked her head to the side. “You aren’t killing anyone.”

  “I killed your mother,” I spat, barely recognizing the voice inside me. “Shot her right in the head.”

  She snorted. “That wasn’t my mother. That was my handler. And I didn’t say that out loud.”

  A chill swept down my spine. “What?”

  Smiling at me as if we were gossiping about a juicy secret, she rose, and her eyes turned pitch-black, all except for her pupils. They glowed white as she pulled something out of her front pocket. What she held in her hand looked like a key fob.

  I lurched to my feet, ignoring the flare of pain that shot down my back.

  “Time to wake up.” She pressed her finger on the key fob. “Whoever you are.”

  My world exploded.

  24

  Sharp, stinging pain exploded along the base of my skull, stealing the next breath I took and knocking my legs out from underneath me.

  Clutching my head, I went down, but I didn’t feel the impact with the floor.

  Pressure built inside my skull, and I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The pain came in waves and waves, sparking through my brain and starting fires along the synapses. My brain was on fire. I could feel it burning through my skull as I rolled onto my side, curling into a ball.

  The pain—oh God—

  The pain was so severe that I could be run over by a dump truck and I wouldn’t care.

  Hell, I’d welcome it.

  My entire body went rigid, legs painfully straight as my hands jerked away from my head. I can’t take this. I couldn’t. My brain was turning to mush. I could feel it. Everything was being scrambled.

  “They call it the Cassio Wave, because obviously, someone is obsessed with Greek mythology. It’s a sonic sound wave. Can’t hear it, but it’s in your brain, doing its thing.” April’s voice cut through the slicing pain. “Kind of works like a jammer, or so I’ve been told. Gets in there, scrambles all the neurotransmitters and stuff. Kind of messed up, if you think about it. Apparently, there are much larger-scale weapons in development, but none like this. This has no impact on humans. Did you hear that, Evie? This little thing is kind of like a dog whistle.”

  I thought she might have toed me with her shoe, but I wasn’t sure. Nausea churned as my vision went white and panic ripped through me, twisting with the stabbing, blinding pain. I couldn’t see. I was going to—

  Bright images began flashing inside me. Golden sand. Blue-green water. Sea foam. I’d never been to the beach, but I saw it and felt the warm sun on my skin, the heated sand under my feet—under my bare toes. Another image replaced it. A man I’d never seen before, scrawny, with greasy blond hair. Strung out and passed out on a couch that smelled like cat urine and stale food. Then a boy running along the bank of the Potomac. He was laughing, and the sun turned his hair bronze. He was running too fast, and I couldn’t catch up to him.

  It’s going to be okay now. That’s what he’d said. I remembered. Just like I promised.

  But he’d lied. He’d promised to never leave me, and he’d lied about that, too. He’d left me, and I hadn’t even wanted to go to them. I didn’t trust them, but he insisted, and it was all a lie. Everything about them, about what they offered, it was a lie, and I paid for the lie in sweat and tears, blood and death—

  Fire swept through, erasing him, erasing us, and it was forever, his face and voice shattering into pieces. I was dying—no, I had died at the hands of a needle and a woman who promised me everything would be okay.

  Truth.

  It was the truth wrapped in lies.

  “The Cassio Wave only affects people with a certain genetic code that comes from the Andromeda serum,” April was saying, and I heard her, but the words weren’t connecting or making sense. “The serum is a code waiting to be accessed.”

  I saw myself. I saw a younger version of myself. Thirteen or so? It was me with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. Me in black pants, black shirt. A gun—a gun in my hand and a voice in my ear.

  His words. Dark brown eyes focused on mine. You’re not like them. I was a miracle that wasn’t. I knew that. He knew that.

  You know what you have to do.

  I knew what—

  Another voice intruded, one that I thought I recognized. The
y’re going to come for you. And when they do, they’re not going to know what hit them.

  No. No, they—

  Nothing.

  Suddenly, there was just nothing in my head. Just cool, vast emptiness. Vacant. The pain was gone, leaving nothing but a sweet, blissful void behind. Slowly, the rigidity leaked out of my muscles, and my legs curled. Sweat coursed down the side of my face as I pried my eyes open and saw denim-clad legs.

  Where was I?

  I lifted my gaze to see a girl standing before me, her eyes all black and her pupils white.

  Who was she?

  I knew her. I thought I did, but my head was full of fuzz and cotton, as was my mouth and throat.

  The girl lifted her arm and offered her hand. “A life—”

  “For a life,” I croaked.

  “Perfect.” Her red lips curled into a smile. “Come. He’s waiting for us.”

  Lifting my hand, I placed mine in hers. I took her hand, and then I took her.

  Planting my other hand on the floor, I kicked out, sweeping her legs out from underneath her. Her eyes widened with surprise before she went down, her hip cracking off the floor.

  I rose to my feet.

  “What are you doing?” she sputtered, pushing up. “This isn’t right. You’re not supposed—”

  Snapping forward, I gripped her by her ponytail and yanked her onto her feet. Icy air blew off her, and her lower half began to lose some of its solidness.

  I whirled around, bringing her with me. With my hand along the back of her head, I dragged her forward. She tried to catch herself by grabbing the sink.

  Not going to happen.

  Muscles flexed, and her arms gave out. I slammed her into the mirror face-first.

  “Not cool.” She spit blood as I jerked her back. “You’re making a mistake. Huge mis—”

  She kicked back, catching me in the stomach. I stumbled back a step, catching myself. She spun toward me, her body lifting off the floor as red-tinged light-laced shadows spilled out from her, wrapping around her legs, climbing up the length of her body.

  She became a shadow—a shadow that burned.

  Springing forward, I snatched the obsidian blade off the floor. The stone was red-hot in my hand as I jumped up onto the sink behind her. I pivoted and grabbed her ponytail, yanking her head back.

  “How—?” she gasped, the shadows over her chest.

  “I’m not like you.”

  Then I slammed the blade into the center of her head, piercing tissue and bone.

  Her mouth dropped open, but no sound came out as she fell forward, her body flickering between smoke and light.

  She was dead before she hit the floor, a pale, sunken body in a pool of inky darkness.

  I hopped down from the sink, wiping the blood off the blade onto my jeans. Then I lifted my other hand, running my fingers through my hair, smoothing the strands as I turned to the shattered mirror.

  I saw myself.

  I saw my eyes, and the irises were black, the pupils were white. I saw—

  Like being sucked back in, I slammed back into myself. My consciousness finally woke up and took hold.

  Gasping, I jerked back from the mirror and dropped the piece of obsidian. “Oh my God, what did I—?”

  I spun around and saw her—saw April with a hole in her head. “Oh God.”

  I did that.

  I completely recalled doing that. Wasn’t quite sure how, but I totally kicked her ass … and shoved a blade into her head.

  And I didn’t feel at all bad about that part.

  A logical part of my brain took over. April was dead, and no one could come in here and find me with her. Or possibly find her at all, because that would be bad, really bad.

  Because I legit just murdered her and wiped her blood on my jeans. I was swimming in evidence.

  Springing into action, I rushed over to the bathroom door and nearly cried out with relief when I saw that it had a lock on the interior. I made sure it was still locked and then raced back to my backpack. I had no idea how much time I had before someone tried to come in here.

  Grabbing my phone, I tried Zoe first. She was here and could get to me the fastest, but as the phone rang and she didn’t answer, I realized she probably had it on silent.

  “Shit.” I hung up and called Luc as I glanced behind me to where April lay sprawled. Bile crept up the back of my throat. The phone rang once.

  “Shouldn’t you be in class?” Luc answered. “Or are you just that excited about my surprise? It’s not a Chia Pet, Peaches.”

  My knees nearly buckled at the sound of his voice. I held myself up, but I doubled at the waist. “Something bad has happened.”

  All traces of humor vanished from his voice. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but I … I totally just killed April in the school bathroom, and I don’t know what to do. I called Zoe, but she’s in class and not answering,” I told him in a rush. “And I really killed her, Luc. She’s super-dead, and I can’t leave the bathroom.”

  “Why can’t you leave?”

  I glanced at the mirror and shuddered. “Something is wrong with me.”

  “Tell me which bathroom you’re in.”

  I told him where to find me. “Luc, please … please hurry.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Holding the phone to my chest, I squeezed my eyes shut as I leaned against the sink. Luc was fast. He’d be here in minutes, if that, and everything would be okay.

  Like he’s always promised.

  A sharp burst of pain sliced across my temple, and I almost dropped my phone. Fragmented memories tried to surface—the images I’d seen after April had … What had she done? Opening my eyes, I drew in a shallow breath. She’d hit a button on a key fob.

  What had she called them? Cassio Waves? I winced as the throbbing pain stabbed me behind the eyes. Wetness gathered under my nose, and I reached up with a trembling hand to wipe. Red smeared my fingers. My nose was bleeding. I turned back to the mirror, half afraid to see my eyes.

  They were normal, plain old brown. Not creepy black and white. Not at all like Sarah’s and April’s. Maybe I’d just imagined it. Something had been—

  I saw April’s body in the mirror, lying there.

  “Okay,” I whispered, and I swallowed hard. “You did not imagine jack. You jumped on this sink like an assassin and stabbed her in the head.”

  Turning around, I saw April’s open hand. The key fob rested in her palm. I dipped down, swiping it out of her hand, and slid it into my pocket.

  Clutching the phone, I inched around the sink, keeping clear of April’s legs. I probably shouldn’t have killed her. I had questions—lots of them—but then again, I hadn’t exactly been in control of myself. As soon as her hand touched mine, I reacted with … rather deadly precision. I wanted to kill her. Needed to take her out, and while at no point in time had I been joking about wanting to kill her after what she did to Heidi, I didn’t really think I was capable of it.

  I also hadn’t thought I was capable of picking up a gun and shooting someone in the head.

  His voice came again, thready and weak, but there, in the back of my mind. You have to be faster and stronger than he is.

  It was the same voice I’d heard after I shot the woman in April’s house—her handler.

  “Evie?” came a muffled voice from the other side of the bathroom door. “Can you let us in?”

  Darting to the door, I quickly threw the lock and swung the door open. The minute I saw Luc in the doorway, I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms and legs around him. He caught me easily, walking forward as he threaded his hand through my hair.

  “Peaches,” he murmured against the side of my head. “If it takes a murder to get you to greet me like this, I’m not going to complain.”

  A hysterical-sounding giggle rose through me as I buried my face in his neck. “That’s not funny.”

  “I’m not joking.” There was a pause. “Are you hurt? I saw blood on your
face.”

  “Just a nosebleed.” My head was thumping something fierce, and my back hurt like hell, but I was okay.

  “You sure?”

  I murmured a yes against his warm skin.

  “Wow.” Grayson’s voice filled the bathroom. “You really did kill her.”

  I nodded, wondering if he wore contacts to get past the RAC drones.

  “Impressed,” he added reluctantly.

  “Is that a hole in her head?” That was Emery, and I started to lift my head, but Luc kept my face buried. “And … is it just me, or does her blood look super-weird?”

  “I need you guys to get this bathroom cleaned up before anyone realizes what happened here,” Luc ordered. “Hand me her bag, Gray.” A second later, I felt Luc shift my bag on his shoulder. I started to wiggle to get free, but the arm around me tightened. “Nope. I like you right where you are.”

  Someone sighed heavily. Sounded like Grayson.

  “I need to get down,” I told him.

  “No, you don’t.” Luc started backing up. “What I need you to do is to hold on.”

  “What—”

  Luc turned, and then he was taking off, and I knew he was running, moving so fast that he’d be nothing but a blur to anyone who might see him. The moment I felt cool air, I knew we were outside, and it was only a few seconds later that he was slowing down, stopping, and opening a door.

  “We’re at your car.” He wasn’t even out of breath as he lowered me into the passenger seat, and then his hands were on my cheeks, tilting my head back. “Your nose is still bleeding.”

  “It’s okay.” I felt his palm start to warm, but I gripped his wrist, pulling his hand away. “I don’t think you should do that anymore.”

  “I can fix whatever has your nose bleeding—”

  “I don’t think you can,” I whispered.

  “I think you know me better than that.”

  He wasn’t getting it. I rocked toward him, my fingers digging into the skin of his wrist. “Something happened to me.”

  “What?” Luc’s eyes searched mine as he flattened his palm against my cheek.

  “I think I turned into the Terminator.”

  His brows raised. “You what?”