Her will molded fire into a sphere. Tears of guilt and gratitude blurred her eyes and caused the fireball to miss Mamoru. He didn’t react, continuing to stare at Althea. The child’s angry glower had somehow stalled him, and he lowered his weapon.
Aaron raised his sidearm, but couldn’t seem to decide who to point it at. “Awright, what in the bloody hell is going on?”
Mamoru slumped to one knee.
She stepped on something and her boot slipped. Kate glanced down at a large pool of blood, following a trail with her eyes until it met the source—Archon’s headless body. Her eyes went wide. She screamed, part horror, part anger, and part joy, and projected a stream of fire onto the dead face she swore stared at her as if alive.
Archon’s severed head vanished in a cloud of black ashes. The man who had violated her mind no longer existed. He could never do that to her again.
The carnivorous cakes flashed in her thoughts. She pictured the family life he had fabricated, both the idyllic vision he’d invented as well as the nightmare into which her mind twisted it. It had hit her so hard because it had been everything she truly wanted. Kate would’ve gladly allowed herself to be a child again for the chance at such a normal life: parents, childhood friends, parties, actual school, boyfriends, the whole package. Archon had read that out of her and exploited it. Why had the world been so cruel to her? The hangar melted away into the dark alley of a black zone. Kate’s uniform vanished. Naked, she huddled for shelter under a broken awning, gazing at society from the outside. Why had she ever gone to the city? They did not want her.
In a flash, the scene changed. She looked out of the eyes of her six-year-old self, kneeling on the floor of a pink-painted test lab. Men and women in heavy silver suits placed patches of different material on her forearms and thighs, grumbling and shaking their heads as each sample melted, ignited, or evaporated.
Little Kate wailed, feeling like she had done something wrong. One of the scientists tried to comfort her, but burned his hand. At his scream, she felt even more guilt. She reached to hug someone else, and he ran away in terror. Another man appeared with a long, metal pole. A gripper clamp the perfect size to fit around her neck opened at the end. She knew she had to go back in the tank, and he would use the painful thing on her if she didn’t obey. Kate stood, hands up. She backed away from the advancing group of huge men in flame-resistant suits, shaking her head.
“I’ll be good!” she wailed in her waking dream.
One silver-gloved hand reached up and pulled the fireproof mask away, exposing the blotchy face of the old priest. Thin, dark lips parted to reveal teeth the color of seaweed. Kate’s perspective changed as he approached, rising from the neck-spraining vantage of a little girl to standing eye to eye in the body of an adult.
“Damn scientists,” croaked the old man.
Kate clenched her fists. “Fucking scientists. I’m a person, not a damn monkey to be put in a cage.”
The silver fire suit wisped off to smoke, swirling into a billowing leather coat. “They were going to kill you.”
“I killed them first.”
Cold metal constricted tight about her throat. She reached up to grab the neural stun collar.
The ancient gunslinger traced a finger over the metal, which broke and fell away. “The government would kill you rather than lose control of their weapon.”
“I’ll kill them first.” Blue flames squeezed out of her fists and wrapped up her arms.
“There’s only one place you can be free.” He smiled.
The lab vanished with a glare of desert sun. Kate stood at the tip of a high rocky overhang overlooking an endless sea of warriors. Her pale, naked body glowed in the sun like a fire goddess descended from above. Smoke peeled from under her feet, wisps of flame fluttered along her outstretched arms. Everything she touched burned. So-called civilization wanted her dead, but she would survive. The modern world would yield to the scorching flames at her command. She raised her arms, basking in the adoration of a thousand grimy savages below holding blades, spears, and axes overhead, praying to the Queen of Flames.
“Kate?”
An unlikely voice emerged from a goofy buck-toothed man with a helmet made from old truck tires. His British accent caught her off guard, and she squinted down at him, trying to remember why he looked familiar. The Badlands canyon blurred away, once more a hangar, the rocky precipice upon which she had stood a stack of aircraft tires. She had her arms held wide, surveying… her domain?
Below her, the charred remains of her greatest enemy lay vanquished. Figures moved in the blurry distance, wearing uniforms. The government. More people trying to kill her. Thousands of boots tromped all around her, closing in.
No. I won’t let them get me!
Feeling surrounded and certain of her imminent death, Kate collapsed in a ball and screamed.
“Run!” yelled the British man. “She’s going to nuke the building!”
Kate shuddered, remembering how she felt when soldiers aimed rifles at her eighteen years ago. The fear of an innocent child had triggered a nova of destruction that wiped them out to the last. She remembered how she felt when bloodthirsty nibblers overran the tiny house in the Badlands. At that moment, the path to the great reserve of energy lurking inside her lay clear. Rage and flame waited for her to call upon it, yearning for release. Mental fingers coaxed it out. The army coming for her would burn.
Everyone would blow away, ashes in her hands.
Her eyes snapped open as she leapt up, surrounded by a cyclone of fire. The energy drew inward, seconds from a withering burst.
“Katie,” said Althea, the voice in her mind as much as in reality.
She glanced toward the sound, at a little girl in the hangar doorway. My little girl… The anger changed, external, not hers. Something tried to force her to hurt this child she thought of as a daughter. Kate recoiled from it, clinging to the need to protect her at all costs. As soon as she locked eyes with her, the consuming rage collapsed and the roaring inferno vanished with a whuff.
“Leave her alone!” yelled Althea. “You’ve done enough bad.”
Kate’s legs gave out and she spilled forward off the stack of tires. An invisible force caught her, guiding her in a gentle float to a landing near Althea. Anna lay on the floor, unconscious. Aaron trotted up behind her. Mamoru, to her left, knelt like a Samurai about to commit seppuku. Guilt leaked from Kate’s eyes. She knelt where Aaron had placed her, staring down at wet pats appearing on the grey concrete.
Two small bare feet stepped into view.
“Kate?” Althea reached out and grasped her cheek. “Kate? He’s gone. Stop feeling so sad.”
“Kill me,” said Kate. “I’m too dangerous to live. He’s gonna take over and I’m going to hurt someone I shouldn’t. I can’t control myself.”
Althea wrapped her arms around Kate’s head, hugging her face to her chest. “You just did.”
“You took away the anger.”
“I made the Many go away.” Althea released the hug stared into her eyes. “You stopped the fire. You can resist him.”
Kate glanced up to the side as Sadako passed by, on her way to stand by Mamoru. When she looked back at Althea, she broke into sobs.
“You gave me the only thing I ever wanted.” Kate cradled Althea’s cheek in her hand, wiping a smudge of dirt from under the girl’s eye with her thumb. “I remembered how happy I was. I’ve done evil things. I didn’t deserve what you did for me.”
Althea reached up and held on to Kate’s wrist. “You’re sorry. I know you won’t do bad stuff. Father says if you keep hitting a dog, it will bite. The dog isn’t bad. It’s been hit too much.”
Kate sniffled. “How are you still so sweet after everything people have done to you?”
“She’s been hit wif a stick enough, but she doesn’t bite,” said Aaron.
Althea looked up at him. “I’m not a dog.”
“Althea’s hardly a fair example.” Kate stood, gazing to the
dusty horizon in the west. She couldn’t tell if the sudden onrush of determination came from her or the child, but it didn’t matter. “We gotta get back to signal range and warn them about that ship.”
65
Some Men Deserve to Die
Anna
Quiet stillness hung in the air. Anna stared up at cotton clouds gliding across a deep blue sky. She floated over tall grass, which tickled and tingled along her back. The sound of birds and the soft brush of wind in the treetops made her feel calm and at peace. She took a breath, savoring the wetness in the air that carried the fragrance of meadow flowers and lake.
“Anna,” said Archon.
She sat up, finding herself at the spot where she had first made love, on the lakeshore by the cabin in County Gwynedd. Archon stood at the edge of the water, a look of utter disappointment on his face. A bird swooped in low, skimming the surface, and snatched a fish from the greenish depths with a soft sploosh.
“James?”
He glanced down and turned away. “The fools do not understand.”
“Who doesn’t understand?”
Archon trudged into the lake, not disturbing the water. Anna’s eyes widened. When the surface reached his neck, he paused long enough to look back at her. His expression could have been sorrow or disdain.
Without another word, he vanished into the water.
“James!” Anna yelled.
She tried to get up, but her body refused to move. Anna growled, tugging at arms as heavy and dead as sandbags packed with lead. Althea, shrouded in a glowing nimbus of white light, emerged from behind and stepped around in front of her. The girl put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her over backward.
“You can’t go with him.”
Despite the calm on the child’s face, her voice sounded as though she sobbed.
“Please stay.”
Anna exhaled, noticing a sharp, cold, pain in her chest. “What’s happened?”
The girl pressed her hands into Anna’s breast. “You’ve been hurt.”
A wave of dizziness came and went. Anna gathered her wits and stared up into the face of the child hovering over her. Blonde-white hair floated around a worried, innocent face. Her eyes matched the sky in their depth of blue. The aura of light surrounding the girl burst into a blinding flash, obscuring everything. Althea’s voice murmured, sounding farther away. Another voice muttered.
Aaron?
“Am I dead?” asked Anna.
“Anna!” yelled Aaron.
Something warm squeezed her hand numb. Faint lines appeared in the haze, struts, and girders of a steel roof. The hangar. Aaron’s face floated over her, red, covered in tears. Cold, sticky wetness squidged over her breast as she sat up.
“Anna…” Aaron pulled her seated and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to lose you, Anna.” He grasped her shoulders and held her back enough to look her in the eye. “I love you, Annabelle Morgan.”
“I…”
Sincerity in his eyes flickered with fear. He patted her on the back.
She coughed and spat blood. “I… I know.”
A weak grin teased at his lips.
Anna blushed. “I’m… I’ve fallen in love with you, Aaron Pryce.” She clutched at his coat to pull herself up, staring into his eyes. “So stupid. I should have—”
He seemed frozen in the moment, trails of silent sorrow running down his face. Seconds later, his brain absorbed the truth she survived, and he kissed her. She clung with as much energy as she could force into her arms, trembling with physical pain as well as terror at what Archon would do to her if he caught her. I don’t care… I must be free of him. After a moment, Aaron’s kiss slid off to the side and he cradled her tight to his chest. The sound he made could’ve been sobbing or laughing.
She closed her eyes, forcing out hot tears. Sparks leapt out of her, dancing over Aaron’s arms into the ground. It struck her funny that her little monster got out of control over a positive emotion. He leaned back, flashing a quizzical look at the charge, which made her giggle despite her inability to stop crying.
“Even if you are an Arsenal wanker,” she muttered.
Anna leaned up, pressing her lips to his. Time lost meaning; they parted seconds or minutes later for all she knew. Her eyes crept open. He hovered close enough to taste his breath. “Is that coffee?”
“I’m sorry, Anna.” Aaron rubbed a hand up and down her back, his face grim.
“Sorry?” She tucked her face into the crook of his neck. “Is being with me going to be that awful?”
He knelt and took her hand in both of his. “James is…”
“He’s lost ‘is ‘ead,” said Aurora.
Aaron cringed.
“What?” Anna looked to her right, startled at the sight of a Japanese girl. “Lauren?”
“Aye. Don’t mind the outfit. This one’s still got a mind to kill you. She’s trying to protect Mamoru from us.”
“Sadako?” rasped Mamoru. He glanced up at her and recoiled. “Do not look upon me. I am no longer worthy of your concern.”
“Not exactly,” said Aurora. “I’m just borrowing her until she gets over being so stabbity-stabbity.”
Anna shifted to her knees and craned her neck. The twisted tweed suit sprawled on the ground told the story.
“James!” Anna screamed, scrambling to get up.
Aaron held her down. “Don’t. It’s not pretty.”
“James…” Anna sobbed, collapsing over Aaron’s shoulder. “James, no!”
She had been terrified of him for the past few days, frightened of what he might do to her. The few minutes she spent alone with him in her ‘new room’ had made her fear for her life, but the sight of his headless corpse filled her with regret. That no trace of a head remained anywhere in sight horrified her.
How much was an act? What if it wasn’t? Nausea pounded her in the gut. Here she was, draped over Aaron with James not yet even cold. She couldn’t deny her feelings for Aaron, but a tsunami of guilt threatened to drag her down. Her fingernails dug into his arm. James had used her. He had manipulated her friends, driven her from everyone and everything she’d ever known. Anna closed her eyes, languishing at the intersection of anger and sadness.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Aaron. “There was nothing I could do.” He shuddered and held her tight to the point of discomfort.
Anna looked at him, sniffling. His hazel eyes glimmered. A vision, from his point of view, slipped into her thoughts. He’d seen her pierced through with a translucent blade. Along with the vision came the feeling of Aaron’s almost-broken heart.
She shied away from the body, wondering if Aaron had felt the same way when Allison died. Archon had used her like he had used everyone else. How many others had died like the Venezuelan resistance? ‘People of no consequence,’ was his term for them—non-psionics.
“Shit.” Anna’s head popped up. “The ship! The ship is crashing.”
At that moment, the strangest noise reached Anna’s ears.
The sound of Althea growling.
66
Suffer the Innocent
Althea
Mamoru shuddered and staggered to his feet, saturated with the sense of dread incarnate. Althea sensed the darkness within him and snarled. He raised his katana, gaze darting from Sadako to Kate to Anna to Aaron before focusing on her. She stared up at the man, leaning forward in the most aggressive posture her body could produce.
“Out!” screamed Althea.
Streamers of white light unfurled from her, stretching more than twice her height to either side in the shape of wings. Althea arched her back and floated off her feet. Ruffling noises, fire upon the wind, fluttered from the strands. Energy built up within her chest. Seconds after leaving the ground, she thrust her arms forward, palms flat, and glared.
A thunderous rumble echoed to the horizon as an apparition of black vapor burst from Mamoru’s back, repelled out of the hangar. Ink mixed with dust as the shadow zoomed across the deser
t. Wispy black arms flailed and grabbed at nothing as the entity attempted to hold on to the air to stop himself.
Thirty paces behind Mamoru, the darkness coalesced into the ancient cowboy. Red glowing eyes burned with hate, turning orange from fury. The Many rushed into a blur, but his charge halted six feet from her, hand raised, face twisted with rage.
“You have the fear of me because you know I can hurt you.” Althea floated higher. “You have the anger, and you are not wrong to have it. These people did not do anything to you. Don’t have the angry with them for what happened in the before-time. Stay away from him.”
Mamoru wheezed, coughing on finger-thin tendrils of inky smoke peeling out of his nose and mouth.
The old man raised an arm to shield his face from the searing white light.
“You are wrong. I do not want to hurt you, but I will not let you kill the bad city. So many people…” Althea glanced down. “It is the wrong. You have the angry from the before-time, but you want to do the same thing! I do not have to fight you. The chamán said the world is having Light and having Dark, always. One can’t be without the other.”
The Sentience growled and surged into Sadako. Aurora appeared out of thin air on tiptoe behind the shorter woman, screamed, and fainted. Sadako rushed to where her blade stuck out of the ground, snatching it for another attack. Althea’s wing ribbons snared the woman’s wrists, holding the sword back from Aurora’s helpless throat.
Sadako’s arms smoked where the energy touched. Scenes of a terrified child flashed in Althea’s mind. The woman had watched her parents murdered, men whisked her away to a strange flying machine. They had kidnapped her and made her a killer. Sadako leapt at Althea, sprouting metal claws from her fingertips. Althea yelled, twisting her entire body to hurl Sadako to the ground with the energy streams. The light ribbons released the woman, rising once more into the shape of wings.
Angel Descended (The Awakened Book 6) Page 55
