Infinite Risk

by Ann Aguirre

  “Best Buy,” Tanya suggested.

  “Sorry.” Jake had the grace to look embarrassed.

  “No worries. You’re tolerable for a rich brat.”

  “Whatever. I have to mingle. Hope you have fun tonight.”

  I thought Tanya would go with him, but she showed no signs of being tired of our company. For Kian, this had be heaven and hell combined. He could finally talk to the girl he’d liked for so long, but she was firmly off-limits. I’d keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t drink some spiked punch and then make a drunken declaration.

  “I always wondered what your deal was,” she said.

  “Mine?” Kian’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah. When you transferred, there was a lot of talk, but some of the stories…” She shook her head. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re not as weird as they say.”

  “Uh. Thanks?”

  “Oops.” She flashed a charming smile. “Guess I should lay off the schnapps.”

  “Maybe so.” I hadn’t touched any of the liquor on offer, and I devoutly hoped Carmen hadn’t either since she was our ride.

  Maybe I should check on her.

  But I couldn’t leave Kian, and he wouldn’t thank me for dragging him away from his first contact with Tanya. Makes it sound like she’s an alien species. For him, that might not be too far from the truth, as long as he’d idolized her. In his defense, she was smart, pretty, and nice, way more approachable than any member of the Teflon crew at Blackbriar, so maybe it was the difference between public and private school attitudes.

  “Crap, Lara’s about to make a poor life choice. Catch you guys later.” Tanya hurried to the stairs, stopping a burly guy from hauling Lara off.

  “Let’s circulate,” I said to Kian.

  He nodded, sticking to me like I was his bodyguard … No doubt, Aegis’s weight on my wrist in the form of a gold bangle gave me the confidence to push deeper into the crowd. Whirling colors joined the strobe effect, tinting people blue, red, and then green. The flashes tinted their eyes, imbuing a demonic glow, and I reached for Kian, remembering the Harbinger’s bash. Whatever happens, don’t let go. But my hand found only empty space. I spun, but he was gone. What the hell? My heart went into overdrive.

  Carmen stood a few feet away, so I hurried over to her. “Have you seen Kian?”

  Her eyes were wide and glassy when she smiled at me, and the bruise on her neck looked exactly like the one that I’d acquired at the Feast of Fools when the time slip happened and something awful fed from me. Damn it, the monsters are here. I set my hands on her shoulders and jostled her a bit, hoping she’d come out of it on her own, but the vacant smile lingered.

  Devon came over, disengaging from the guy he was chatting up. “Is she okay?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Shit, did someone lace her drink?” He spun in a slow circle as if the culprit might be watching the show.

  Which would’ve been likely at Blackbriar.

  But immortals didn’t operate on the same level as bored kids. While they used humans for entertainment, we were also food. I fought a frustrated scream, swallowing it like necessary medicine. I located the other members of our ride share, but still didn’t see Kian. Devon seemed to sense my anxiety.

  “This party is a lot to take in, even if you’re used to…” He trailed off, likely not knowing how to put it. “You think he found a quiet corner?”

  “I don’t know, but I have to find him. Can you stay with Carmen? I don’t think she’s in any shape to drive.”

  “Me either.” He put an arm around her and led her over to one of the leather sofas.

  I searched the whole room but didn’t find Kian. The rest of our group hadn’t noticed a problem, and they were playing beer pong with some of the more popular folks. Trouble was, this house was so damn huge that I had no idea where to start. Plus, if an immortal had taken Kian, there was no guarantee he was on the property. The Harbinger couldn’t be the only one with the ability to whoosh through time and space.

  Fifteen minutes, I’d checked out the kitchen, formal dining room, pantry, laundry room, and every other space the downstairs had to offer. I found a few people making out in dark corners and one couple on their way to third base, but no Kian. Bracing myself, I jogged up the stairs. If the displays of affection were so intense in public areas, the bedrooms would be like Cirque du Soleil. Two locked doors later, I stepped into what had to be the master suite. Apparently, people felt weird about doing it in the parental bed.

  It was a gorgeous space, decorated in dove gray and lavender, a low yellow light emanating from the walk-in closet. It was quiet enough that I heard my own heartbeat, the rasp of my own breathing. The prickle of unseen eyes made me turn around, but there was nobody in the hallway. As I stared, the door swung shut of its own volition and the temperature dropped, cold enough that I could see my next exhalation.

  “Is someone there?”

  In answer, the closet door creaked open and the lights went out. Below, the music stopped, bathing the house in eerie silence. Then the screaming started. Stumbling forward, I set a hand on Aegis. The switch didn’t respond when I flipped it.

  This was my idea. Kian didn’t even want to come.

  I waited, because someone—something—was clearly setting a mood. At this point, a normal teenage girl would be pissing in terror, too frozen to defend herself. And I couldn’t break character unless my life depended on it. And it might. The slow thunk of boots on a hardwood floor came from the closet, and in the murky light shining through the window, I made out a shadowy form. A flashlight clicked on, highlighting a white face with a smeared red mouth and sharp yellow teeth.

  Buzzkill. Someone’s dying tonight.

  “It’s not your lucky day,” he said.

  “Nobody told me this was a theme party.” The tremor in my voice came naturally; I’d barely won our last fight, and I hadn’t been training lately. Plus, even if I managed to take him out, it would alert Wedderburn, assuming he didn’t already know.

  “Hold still, I’ll make it quick.”

  As I was about to activate Aegis, the pane in the nearest window exploded and the Harbinger arrived in a shower of glass and the frantic beating of black wings. He was full on, radiating power like a nuclear reactor. With him on total wattage, it hurt to breathe, and I staggered, catching myself on the bed. Buzzkill didn’t react.

  “This is a bad move,” the clown said. “Unless you’re here to watch the carnage.”

  “I think you already know she’s mine.” Shivers raised goose bumps on my exposed skin at the iciness of his tone.

  “She may be your latest pet, but she’s also interfering in Wedderburn’s business. That makes her a snafu that I will eliminate.”

  “Over my dead body,” the Harbinger said.

  “I’m ninety percent positive Boss won’t have a problem with those terms. You sure you want to do this? Making an enemy like him over a meatsack is a dumb shit move.”

  The Harbinger wrapped his arm about my shoulders, his eyes all lightning anticipation. “Do your worst, scary clown. Let’s go to war.”

  UNNATURAL DISASTERS

  Buzzkill took a step toward me, and I could tell he was thinking about forcing the fight here and now—without waiting for Wedderburn’s approval. Aegis burned on my wrist, whispering that I should unleash. And I might have if not for the Harbinger digging his fingers into my shoulder. How odd for him to serve as the voice of reason.

  “You should know better than to interfere with what’s mine,” he added.

  “Flesh puppets are easily replaced.” I’d never heard a conciliatory tone from Buzzkill before. Interesting that he seemed to respect or at least remained wary of the Harbinger.

  A chill wind blew over us, gusting the gauzy panel as if this was a haunted house, not a sophomore’s party with nervous laughter echoing through the halls. They probably think the blackout is a joke. They have no idea what’s coming. For the moment, the greatest threat was c
ontained as the Harbinger studied Buzzkill with eyes like two downed electrical lines sparking at passersby.

  “Did I fail to communicate in some fashion?” He bit the next words as if they were ice cubes, cold and grinding. “Mine is mine.”

  The killer clown didn’t budge. “Yeah, and orders are orders.”

  “Have you no ambition? How long do you intend to hunt as Winter’s hound?”

  “Eh, I’m not much for long-term planning, and I like the perks. Lots of carnage, good hours, benefits package.” He grinned, showing stained, scary teeth. “Plus dental, obviously.”

  “Then I am through wasting my precious time since you’ve chosen to be a minion instead of a power.”

  “You should talk. All you ever do is flit around the fringes of the game. There’s a word for assholes who consistently go after low-hanging fruit.”

  The Harbinger dug his fingers into my shoulder, likely not realizing that his protection was starting to hurt. A normal girl wouldn’t utter a sound, terrified out of her mind, hopelessly bewildered, and maybe wondering if somebody had slipped something into her drink. So I did my best to cower and look bleary. Forty crows cawed and shifted behind me, a palpable air of malice settling over the room like a death shroud. The tension clung to my lips and frosted my eyelashes. If the Harbinger had been half playful in his defense before, he was amused no longer.

  “Take care,” he said softly.

  “You think I’m scared of some angry birds? I beat that app like five years ago. But see how far this pissing contest gets us? You’re starting to piss me off, Trick.” Buzzkill cracked open his go bag, revealing an array of knives.

  “Starting? I’m finished. Scuttle back to your master before the choke chain throttles you.”

  The clown let out an exaggerated sigh, kind of like an evil balloon deflating slowly. “Be reasonable. The Oracle fingered this one as screwing up the timeline, blocking the boss from acquiring a necessary asset.”

  That explained how Buzzkill knew I was here, and the trouble I had breathing because of the Harbinger’s aura intensified, resulting in near hyperventilation. My heart raced so hard, it hurt, and it wasn’t hard to act like I was passing out. Head rush sparkles popped as the Harbinger caught me in one arm. His strength was absurd and effortless, belying his lean frame.

  “She dead?” His heavy boots clonked a few steps closer. “That would solve everything. We’ll find a replacement, no problem. This is the style you like?”

  The sound of beating wings engulfed me, and to my astonishment, through my lashes I saw the birds had formed a feathery wall, fluttering together in a formation so unnatural that it filled with me a sort of grateful revulsion. Playing the damsel in distress sucked, but if I deviated, then all the Harbinger’s bullshit would be for nothing, and I had to hang on here somehow, long enough to get Kian past his personal nadir. But it was tough letting them talk while all hell broke loose downstairs. Every muscle in my body quivered with tension as I resisted the urge to break free and run—not away from Buzzkill—but to help the terrified people below.

  “You reek of blood and bratwurst, cretin. Another step, and you shall see why the others find it wise to leave me be.” His tone rang like sharped blades over smooth ice.

  “Don’t be dramatic. I’m just trying to do my job.”

  “Does it seem as though I’m interested in your employer?”

  “Not really.” Buzzkill seemed to make a decision and snapped his kit shut, hiding the silvery glimmer of multiple blades. “See you soon.”

  “You’d better gear up and come heavy,” the Harbinger said gently. “Your little knives will barely scratch the surface.”

  “Don’t worry about my firepower. See you later, asshole.”

  I kept quiet until the clown faded into the shadows and then for a minute more, just in case. “Is he gone?”

  “It seems so.” The Harbinger let go of me and phased into Colin.

  “Was it smart to talk about that stuff in front of me?”

  “He thinks I’m draining you. By the time I finished, you’d be incoherent and broken, if not deceased.”

  “But a slow death isn’t good enough. They want me facedown immediately.” A shiver went through as the screaming intensified downstairs. “We have to help them. Buzzkill probably brought monsters.”

  “I’d be surprised if he didn’t, though some things just slither in greater shadows, hoping to feast off the carnage that others provoke.”

  Fear made my words run together in a desperate rush. “They’ll try to frame Kian, force him back into the role of school pariah.”

  “Probably,” he said.

  “Will you help me stop it?”

  The Harbinger thought for a second, the pensive look illuminated faintly by the moonlight shining through the window. “I’ve already rescued one person tonight, dearling. I’m over my limit already.”

  I sighed. “Never mind.”

  “Then…” He swept out of the room, probably thirsty to drink in the chaos and fear.

  I followed, conscious of the chill that pervaded the upper story. The bedroom doors weren’t locked anymore, but the couples were half dressed and trembling as they clung to one another, likely not even positive why they were so terrified. On some level, they must grasp that this wasn’t a normal power outage and that things were prowling the dark, even as they tried to convince themselves it was all in their imaginations.

  In the kitchen, I found Vonna and Devon standing guard over Carmen, who gazed around with a blank stare. “Something truly screwed up is going on here,” Devon said softly.

  “Get to the car. Give me fifteen minutes to find everyone else. But if I’m not there, get out of here, don’t wait. You can drive, right?”

  “I don’t exactly have a license, but yeah. I know how.”

  Vonna held out her hand. “I have mine. Give me Carmen’s keys.”

  I went over and fished them out of her purse, dangling limply off her shoulder. “I think you know this but don’t leave her alone. It’ll take her a while to feel like herself again.”

  “You seem pretty sure what’s wrong with her,” Devon said.

  “It happened to me once.”

  Vonna studied Carmen with an increasingly worried look. “She hasn’t been—”

  “No,” I cut in. “It’s kind of like a roofie, but nobody raped her.”

  Not physically anyway. I didn’t have time to get into the particulars of how she’d feel after being psychically drained. That was definitely a violation, but not the sort they were worried about. After checking that we had our meeting time straight, they led Carmen out the back door onto a snowy patio, and I turned back toward the enshadowed house.

  How many people am I looking for? Nathan, Amanda, Elton, and Kian. The Harbinger didn’t need me to rescue him. So four. In the hallway leading to the laundry area, two human forms cowered. Someone sobbed, low and breathless, as darkness crept closer, amorphous with red eyes in a blob of a face. I almost made out claws atop thin, elongated arms. I can’t just watch. I brought these monsters here. Silently cursing, I touched Aegis, and it sprang to life in a shimmer of a gold. I swept the thing from behind, piercing it with a hiss of dark steam. It wheeled on me, and I slashed again. This time, I passed through the thing’s core, and it dispersed like a malevolent cloud. More unsettling, the darkness whirled around me like a tornado of evil, until Aegis drew it all in.

  Oh, shit. It’s … Am I feeding it?

  Suddenly, I wished I had asked more questions of Govannon or paid more attention when Rochelle tried to warn me. But before worry could lock me down, a rush of a pure energy shot up my arm. I’d never mainlined any illegal drugs, but this must be what it felt like. Euphoria crackled through my veins like fireworks, and I bounded away from the cowering humans on the floor. They’re safe, good enough. I have more killing to do.

  Stepping into the laundry room, I nearly tripped on Jake Overman, on his knees and scared shitless of the shadow fiend that ha
d him by the throat. Kian lay unconscious in front of the washer and dryer, and that checked my reckless fervor. Dammit, I’m not here to fight. I’m supposed to be saving people. But sometimes there was overlap between mission and inclination; Jake’s gaze locked on mine, but I could see the smoke tightening on him like an ethereal noose. I didn’t hesitate; the creature noticed too late, dropping its prey to face me, but I executed it in two sweeps of the blade. These creatures posed no challenge, just scavengers.

  “What … how…” Jake was breathing, but not getting much oxygen.

  If he kept huffing like that, he’d pass out. Which might not be bad for me. Bruises ringed his throat, and his eyes were glassy but he didn’t have that vacant look yet. The thing hadn’t finished feeding on him when I interrupted it. I had a feeling the shadow might’ve killed Jake since Kian was unconscious nearby and he wouldn’t be able to explain anything later.

  “You throw a weird-ass party. Pull yourself together and look for Tanya.”

  “Oh, shit.” He hauled himself to his feet, nearly pulling down a metal shelving unit in the process. It wobbled and so did he, but fear for his girlfriend distracted him from the sword in my hand and the fact that something deeply disturbing had just happened in his utility room.

  Once he ran out, I sheathed Aegis and knelt beside Kian. He didn’t respond when I shook his shoulder, so I rolled him over and found the same bruise Carmen had, in multiples, like three shadows went at him at once. No wonder he passed out. When I checked his pulse, it was weak, like a dying bird fluttering against the glass. But … he can’t die, right? Wedderburn would flash-freeze all these things and make coasters out of them. Trembling, I used the rage-strength Aegis granted me to get him over my shoulder, but I couldn’t stand. Seven minutes had already elapsed, and I still didn’t know where the others were.

  As I staggered on one knee, trying again, Jake burst back in. “I can’t find Tanya, and people are passed out everywhere, and they’re talking about calling the cops. Lara’s saying I roofied everyone or put some hallucinogenic shit in the beer or—”