DT’s usually confident demeanor had vanished, and in its place was a reckless man capable of anything. I grinned at him, hoping to rein him in as I moved Reina towards the door an inch at a time. “What’s going on here, Cal?” I asked.
The nickname halted his gift’s effect on the room, which unnerved me. Was he destroying this place unintentionally? He looked agitated, a fresh handprint made of blood across his cheek where he’d touch it, but this was an entirely new side to him. Even when he’d murdered Carter, he’d seemed in control. Now, the monster within was on full display.
“I need to know...” he said, his words low like a growl, “whose side are you on, hers or mine.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I’ve seen all the good The Fallen is capable of doing, but killing the Fae won’t—”
“WHOSE SIDE!” he screamed, quaking my bones. The windows cracked, alerting me that the rooms deterioration had resumed.
I heard the faintest sniffle behind me, which was a kick to my gut. Anger tore through me. The moment DT dragged Reina into this, this fight was inevitable.
“Hers,” I said.
DT’s blue eyes widened, and he recoiled like I’d slapped him. I lifted my hands, preparing to defend myself, but the glass I’d been using all night was way out of range, my daggers had been confiscated by the Agency, and the objects in his apartment were rapidly being turned to dust.
He stepped toward us. “I should have known when you didn’t return here after your mission. You don’t have the nerve to do the right thing. You grew up too rich.”
I listened, his gaze so fixated on me, I doubted he noticed the purple glow swelling behind me.
He continued. “You never learned what it was like to be hungry, yet somehow I fooled myself into thinking we were the same. I have news for you, Kaito…” My name sounded like an insult from the way he spat it out. “Once I kill you both, Yemoja Roux will come to me seeking revenge for Reina, showing all of Ancetol her true colors. I’ll finish her once and for all, and the city will regard me as a hero.” The dust snaked under us and I felt the floor give way, but I held us level.
“If she falls, the Fae Agency falls, and now that your precious academy is no longer protected, I’ll have my pick of the lot for my new recruits.”
I began a slow clap. “Excellent monologue, DT,” I said, “Excellent. You had the whole plan in there. The ‘threatening to kill me’ bit without actually… killing me. I mean, a bit cliche, obviously, but spoken with conviction at least.” Confusion swept over every one of his features. So I decided to help him out. “Are we going to fight, or…”
His eyes darkened, and faster than I anticipated, he lunged for me. I yanked the two of us down through the gaping hole in the floor, the air between a dusty gray mess. I flew through the room touching whatever objects I could that hadn’t been affected by his gift. It was an office space with nothing but computers, chairs, and phones. Nothing that would really hurt DT. But there was no time to look for more.
DT jumped down to our level and instantly the purple waves shot out from Reina, one after the other, in his direction. They were sharp, each one as lethal as my daggers, flying toward her target. “It’s obvious you’re afraid, DT!” Reina shouted. Her waves bounced off his porcelain white skin without so much as a scratch, but she bought me a few seconds to pull more objects into range. The lights flickered and all went dark.
I couldn’t see DT. I couldn’t see anything except Reina, glowing brightly, making herself the perfect target. I began to throw objects at where I’d last seen DT, but the way they crashed uselessly on the floor said I missed. My breath stopped. Either they had no effect or DT was somewhere else in the darkness. We were one touch away from death, and I needed to make sure that when he attacked, it was me he came after. I willed my emotions, fear, pain, and love into my gift and thought of that specific tropical sky shade of blue. I glowed, and so did every object I’d touched. It was enough light to see DT charging for Reina.
I pulled her toward me, the blue of my gift straining away from Reina’s purple. She crashed hard into my chest, my arms around her so tight that it knocked the wind out of me. “I know your truth!” she shouted. DT froze, the anger slightly easing from his features.
She continued. “You’re afraid you’ll never find anyone else who understands you. You were born a monster, and you’re afraid you’ll die a monster. But, most of all, you’re afraid you’ll die alone.”
I shook as I watched him, knowing that I’d felt all of those things, too, before I had gotten close to Reina. If she hadn’t believed in me, could I have been standing beside DT?
“You don’t even want to do this.”
DT lifted his hand to prepare his final attack. “See, now, that’s where you’re wrong. Because, yes, I definitely do.”
With our backs against the wall, and nowhere else to go, I felt the tension in Reina’s body ease. It was the same sense of resignation that washed over me. “Kai,” she whispered as DT walked towards us. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
I held her body to mine, unwilling to let her go, not even for death. “Don't give up, love. Let’s buy another minute.”
My left arm pulled back, to send everything I had left toward DT, while I held tight to Reina with my right. I felt her right hand cock back, the purple glow so bright that even DT’s bloodthirsty eyes squinted as he reached for us. Our heartbeats fell into sync as we released our power.
The blue and purple gifts locked together, releasing a bright white light that tore through the room, shooting straight through DT.
The light dimmed but never quite went out. An eerie glow, with no obvious origin point, settled around us.
DT stood in front of us, hand outstretched but his gaze firmly on the floor. His chin lifted, and he set a molten glare on me. No matter how much I wanted to hide my fear from Reina, my body shook as the truth of what transpired became clear. He was completely unharmed by our attack, and we were out of time.
A cruel smile stretched across his face, and he reached for Reina. No. I won’t live without her. Desperate to block his touch, I threw my hand at his, but Reina gripped my wrist to stop me, just as his hand lay flat on her collarbone.
A horrifying scream ripped through the room.
43
Reina
DT stumbled back, his voice cracking through his hysterical screaming. He stared at his hands, then shook them, then brought them back to his tear-filled gaze.
Kai spun me, checking me for signs of DT’s deadly touch, but there were none.
He shouted, “What the fuck just happened? Did you d—”
My gift sliced through DT like warm butter. His mouth dropped open, his gaze passing over me and jumping right to Kai. His breaths were shallow and punctuated with coughed blood. He looked down at the blood on the floor, complete disbelief covering his features. “What… how...?” Watching him try to come to terms with his own defeat was a little satisfying but mostly frightening.
“I don’t understand,” he coughed out. “How is this even possible?”
I looked at Kai, the sadness and shock in his eyes pushed away by relief. It was all worth it just to see that. I looked down at my hands and shook my head, unable to find an answer. What was that white light? If I didn’t already know it to be impossible, from one of my lessons at GFA, I might’ve thought our powers combined. Another deep, wet cough drew my attention. I looked at DT, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was watching his life bleed away with such a look of despair I was almost inclined to pity him.
His gaze lifted to Kai. “Was any of it real? Were you ever really my friend? Could you have...” He choked, his gurgled voice a raspy whisper. He was fading, almost gone. I stared at Kai, unable to pin down how he felt.
Kai’s jaw clamped down and I felt certain he wouldn’t answer, but he surprised me. “In another world, one without gifts to twist us all up, I think maybe we could have been friends.”
My breath caught. It
was a mercy, granting DT’s dying wish. It was a kinder gesture than I thought myself capable of. Gone was the bully, and with him the anger. In its place, there was a glowing empathy that he extended to the darkness in DT, well beyond anything I was even willing to feel.
A faint smile brushed the corners of DT’s mouth as his eyes grew vacant. But my rage was still raw.
Even as DT’s body sank into a pile on the floor, his life blinking out in front of me, I considered striking him again. He had destroyed my life, and my city. Though his plan wasn’t complete, there was no telling how much damage he’d done to the Fae, to Ancetol, or if the Fae even had any control. Kai would spend his life in prison, if he wasn’t immediately executed. As DT’s body convulsed, I felt death was too easy.
Kai pulled me into his chest to block me from witnessing DT’s horrific final moments. My emotions swirled inside me, the most prominent being a cocktail of guilt, fear, and relief. I was a murderer, just like I’d accused the Fae of being. DT had killed the piece of me that believed in the separation of good and evil. My body numbed as I finally let the last bit of my idyllic view of the world die.
I’d almost forgotten that Kai was there when he took my face in his hands. “Reina,” he said, so harshly that I realized he must’ve said it more than once. “He kidnapped you. He was going to kill us both. You saved us. You saved me.”
Those words echoed in my head as Kai led me down the twenty plus flights of stairs and out into the frosty air. It was so cold that it jogged me from my cloudy mind and propelled me back to the moment. “Bri wasn’t in there,” I said. “I checked for her gift as we came down the stairs.”
Kai nodded. “Okay. We’re going to find her. Well…” he said, remembering the jail that awaited him, “you will.”
“What are we going to do?”
He took a deep breath, but based on his neutral expression, quick movements, and confident gait, he was more relieved than anything else. “I’m going to the Agency in the morning to tell them the whole story. Yemoja Roux is already there, but based on how I left things, I’m sure they’re not letting anyone in or out tonight.”
My emotions choked me, crashing over me like a riptide drawing me deeper into despair. He took out his phone and began texting. “I’m letting Yemoja Roux know we made it out of there.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
As the first tears slipped down my face, Kai hugged me and said, “Don’t cry. You were so brave. I was so proud of you.”
The thought of him being ripped away from me again infuriated me. “It just feels like it was all for nothing,” I said, my voice skipping as the emotions poured out.
He smiled gently then leaned in, holding my face close to his. He bit his bottom lip and my blood burned hot, the rush overpowering everything else. His mouth tickled mine as he whispered, “You saved me. That’s not nothing.”
I looked up into his dark eyes, sadness fighting to reclaim my heart. “Maybe only for another night.”
The smallest hint of a smile touched his lips. “We better make the most of tonight, then.” I pushed his shoulder and laughed half-heartedly as he put his hands up in surrender. “I was kidding. Sort of.” A huge smile took over that beautiful face.
As Kai walked me back to Yemoja Roux’s empty apartment, we avoided any topics related to what had just happened. I needed time to process, and I had a feeling Kai felt more about DT’s death than what he showed. There was so much I wanted to say before I lost him. I could have spent the whole night talking, and still wouldn’t have gotten to everything, which is why, in my head, that joke he made became more of a wish with each step toward my home.
“Stay here tonight,” I said as I pulled him into the apartment. He followed, but his lack of response was a clear indication of his apprehension.
He laid his cell phone on the end table beside mine and took a seat on the couch. His posture was too stiff to hide his discomfort. “You can take off your coat,” I said as I hurried out of the room. I pulled off the T-shirt DT had given me, revealing the sheer pajamas underneath. I turned to my vanity, my heart racing as I looked at myself. If we only had one night left, I wanted to remember every second of it.
A knock sounded at my door, startling me.
“Look, Reina,” Kai said from the other side of the door. “You’ve had a very hard night. I think you should get some rest.”
He had a point, I knew that, but my mind was already made up. I eased the door open and, looking at him as he leaned against the frame, his hair still tousled from our battle, made me certain that I did not want to rest. He stood up straight, a red blush splashed across his neck as his gaze traveled down my body.
His exhale shuddered, and I fought myself not to laugh at his waning willpower. Maybe it was time I bullied Kai a little. “You’re right,” I said. “We won’t do anything, but will you lie with me awhile?”
He gulped. “Uh. Yeah. That should be fine.”
I began to crawl slowly onto my bed, fully aware of the show I was putting on. I felt Kai’s gift lift me as he pushed me back onto the bed to end it quickly. The blue glow jerked the blanket up to cover me past my chest. He was determined to be good. How sweet. I bit back a laugh and he smirked as he lay beside me. I rolled over to him, inching closer.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said.
I wiggled my body closer to his. “Oh? And what is it I’m doing?”
“It’s not going to work.” His gaze didn’t leave my face for a second. Despite his words, I caught a glimpse of something hot and hungry behind his eyes.
I leaned in and kissed him softly, and when I slowly pulled away, his head bobbed forward to chase it. The sight sent a victorious shiver through me.
“Oh yeah?” I whispered. “It seems to me like it’s working.”
Kai’s body went rigid. He rubbed his hands over his face. “Don’t get me wrong, I really fucking want to, but I’ll never forgive myself if we do this before you’re ready.”
I didn’t question the impulse as I pulled his hands away, placing them around my waist. His eyes reflected a purple glow as I whispered, “I’m ready.”
Truth.
A tingling sensation rose as the next truth reached my lips. “I love you.”
Those three small words cracked whatever willpower he’d been exercising. He caught my jaw and tugged my mouth to his. My heart hummed inside my chest. Man, the guy knew how to kiss. The thrill radiated down to my toes, and I felt my body work itself into a frenzy the way it had in the alleyway, each kiss calling forward my need to get closer. My breath caught, my heart beat in overdrive as I slid my hands under his shirt, only separating long enough to pull it over his head. I pulled him back to me for another taste, feeling the flex of his muscles as he ran his hands over my body. He flashed a smile against my lips between kisses. I wasn’t surprised that he liked seeing me this way. I liked it too. I’d gotten a preview in the alley, and now I wanted everything. I liked the feeling of his jeans as I rubbed against them, but I wanted them gone.
An alarm rang out in the living room, halting us mid-kiss. Based on the volume and tone, it was a city-wide emergency alert that came through our cell phones, no doubt telling people to avoid the tower and the Agency until they had everything settled. Had it been an ordinary message, we would have ignored it but, unfortunately, it was the kind that would ring until we stopped it. I forced my body to separate from Kai’s, taking a moment to fully appreciate the view. Kai let out a wordless sound of irritation, and I couldn’t help but smile at the reaction. I wanted to assure him that one more minute wouldn't kill us, but the need between my thighs said otherwise. I hopped off the bed, my weakened knees far wobblier than I was prepared for. I bounded into the living room as Kai’s phone zipped past me, and I followed the remaining alarm to the end table where my phone blinked red. Wracked with an overabundance of energy, I did a silent “Omg, I’m going to have sex with Kai” dance before picking up my cell.
“It’s a weird aler
t from an unknown number,” Kai said. “It says—”
But I already knew. I gaped at the message, my heartbeat stopped dead in my chest. On my phone, the message wasn’t from someone unknown. It was from someone who was missing. My blood ran ice cold as I read her message aloud.
Bri:
Get out of Ancetol!
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The Brave & The Broken: Gifted Fae Academy - Year Two Page 16
