Bladed Wings (48 page)

“Are you afraid you’ll meet someone you can’t influence?” she asked.

“It’s only happened once.” He strode out into the glass enclosure. There was the elevator house, and then just a glass box over everything else. Plants lined the ground, and there were flowers, each a different tone and shade. Some were bright and red, others a gentle pink. Some were dark green, and Kayla even noticed one that had the same hue of darkened blue as Seth’s energy.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as she leaned down and smelled one of the blossoms.

“It is,” he said. “I always wonder about this place. The guy who had it built rich and powerful. He had lots of followers and everyone listened to him, but he got it all by cheating his shareholders out of a lot of money. He was a bad guy, but he still built this place.”

“What does that tell you?”

“I’m not sure. But here’s the best part,” Seth waved her closer.

At first, Kayla didn’t see anything different. There were the same gorgeous plants, the same clear views, and the same guy wearing an impish grin. He whispered for her to look up. Stars, all of them. She didn’t’ know how it was possible, but she saw through the square of glass that acted like a telescope or a magnifying glass. Usually, there was too much light and only the brightest stars were visible. But there it looked like a spray of light across the sky, a billion orbs flickering and shining together.

“It’s incredible.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Seth, I’ve never seen anything that beautiful.”

“Me either,” he said, his eyes on her.

In the silence, Kayla knew what she heard. She knew he just said that. He just said she as beautiful, and she felt her heart stutter in her chest. He put his hands to her waist and pulled her closer. He was close, close enough for her to feel the heat of his skin. She closed her eyes. She pressed her lips against his. Maybe she was wrong. She had to be wrong, because this felt too good, too happy, too incredible. She had to be wrong.

They were soft, gentle kisses, nothing rushed until he pulled away.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I liked it. We could do it again.”

He smiled and they did it again.

              Curfew. She didn’t hate it before. She never had to hate the clock for pulling her back home, but she knew she couldn’t be out long. It didn’t matter how safe or good it felt with Seth. It didn’t matter how much home felt like a prison and battlefield combined. She didn’t want another fight with her parents, so she pushed him away.

              “We have to go, don’t we?”

              “Yeah,” Kayla said and wondered if he could hear the regret in that answer. Wordlessly, he wove his fingers through hers as they headed back down. Everything went too fast this time. She wouldn’t have many more minutes before they’d be back in her car, back on the freeway, back in her neighborhood. And they’d have to say goodbye.

              Kayla wasn’t like Erin. She didn’t know how to analyze those moments. He said he was sorry, but he kept kissing her. That meant he cared about her, he liked her too, right? Liked her. Stupid, it sounded like middle school, but Kayla didn’t know what else to call it.

              Arms pulled against her chest to defend against the cold, Kayla peeked around. The sidewalks were empty, darkness bordered on every side. “Can I ask you something else?” Seth wanted to know, breaking her thoughts away.

              “Anything.”

              “Was that okay?”

              “What?”

              “The kiss,” he said. He should’ve used “kisses.” She still carried that torch of excitement and warmth from the moment they embraced through to that second when they had to break away. Kayla didn’t know what drunk felt like. She didn’t know what high felt like either, but it couldn’t have been that good. Nothing could. “Was it okay?”

              Kayla skipped forward a step, spun around, and grabbed his hand. “It was incredible.”

              “Good,” he said and pulled her back toward him. She had her hands against his waist and she felt her arms around him. His muscles were hard and lean against her. She never remembered feeling that secure, that sure of being with someone. Just a kiss, just a few minutes where their lips touched and their hands explored their clothes, but it was incredible. It was the first step in a relationship, the kind of romance that might light the rest of her life.

              She might be late, but she didn’t care. She could lose herself to the heat of his lips again. Her car was up four flights of empty and darkened parking garage. She couldn’t worry about getting grounded. It wasn’t like her parents would be around to enforce it. Kayla was half way to justifying another hour in his embrace when someone snapped her back to reality, to the winter’s chill, to the reality that they weren’t alone in the dark.

              “Very sweet, Seth. And Kayla, it seems you’ve really loosened up. Wonderful on both accounts,” Sasha said, sickly sweet with each word. She stepped into the light, two of her bodyguards beside her. They were two of the same guys from the last night. All of the joy rushed from her chest as the color drained from her face. Armed with knives, they were strong and lean dressed in black suits. They should’ve been protecting some diplomat or CEO, not going after kids on a school night.

              Seth stepped in front of her like he’d shield her with his body, but it didn’t matter because Sasha’s followers were on him. They ran like they didn’t care if he hurt them. With a lunge back, he braced himself and evaded one wide arc as a blade almost chopped into his wrist. Seth locked his eyes on that minion and rammed into his mind. Kayla thought she could almost feel the strength of his wrath as he forced his thoughts onto Sasha’s minion. He didn’t get to break through though because the second fighter when after him. Seth grabbed the first bodyguard and yanked hard enough to pull him into the second knife. It was a shallow cut, but enough to break whatever hold Seth managed.

              Sasha smiled, her fangs bright in the dark, “You have to admire his abilities.” She started to circle Kayla like a jackal or coyote, a predator eager to leap on the scent of a terrified prey.

              Kayla tried to keep the fear deep down. On instinct, her body went cold as fear surged through her. It only vanished when she heard Seth hiss with pain as a blade tore his shirt and drew blood. A shallow cut, it reminded her what would happen if they lost. Sasha would kill them. Kayla didn’t need to believe in demons to know that evil was very real.

              Energies focused, Kayla blinked. When light hit her eyes again, she saw Sasha and Seth as he punched one of Sasha’s men. He must’ve had fifty or sixty pounds on Seth, but he stumbled back anyway, his lip split and bleeding.

              When Kayla opened her eyes, she saw the hues of energy and air. The circulations of power and space twirled in front of her. It was like looking at a thousand twisted guitar strings. She pulled her hand back and strung the instrument with a swing of her fingers.

              On Kayla’s command, a wave of energy flared out. Sasha threw up her arms to block against it, her shoes braced against the asphalt. But it didn’t matter. The force slammed into her and threw her back. She stumbled down and rolled. Before Kayla could see what happened, Sasha was back on her feet. She pulled something out. It was thin, glass, and round: a syringe.

              “Stay still,” Sasha whispered. Kayla shouldn’t have heard it, and she realized that she didn’t. Those sounds were in her head. That same energy seeped into her and rushed through her blood. It was the blacked sludge of paralysis.

              Seth elbowed one knifeman in the stomach. There was a gust of pained air from the fighter’s chest, but Seth didn’t stop. He kicked down, caught him in the shin, and pushed away. He ran for Kayla even as she tried to move. The second bodyguard pounced and grabbed Seth into a bear hug.

              Kayla felt her fingers twitch, but that was all. She blinked again and couldn’t see the currents any more. She shook her head to clear her vision, but it didn’t work. “Don’t worry,” Sasha said from just a few feet away. “You’re not old enough for this. But don’t worry. Things will be right soon.” She aimed the needle for Kayla neck.

              The tip pressed into her skin, but Kayla wouldn’t close her eyes. She wouldn’t give up. She felt the sludge loosen every time she battered her will against her muscles, but they still refused her commands.

              Sasha barred her teeth, “Finally now, I’ll get my new body. This one is really too weak. It doesn’t have the right potential.” She examined the back of her hand and held it for Kayla to see. Splotched burns lined the back of Sasha’s hands. “A new body, something younger, something right for me will be so much nicer.”

              The needle stung just as Kayla saw the currents flash back. She growled and forced them to move. A second torrent of energy ripped into Sasha. Too thin and sharp to throw her back, it was tight enough to cut across her skin. A scarlet line of blood slide across her face. It wasn’t enough to her kill or disable her, but enough to rip a scream from her throat.

              Concentration broken, Sasha hobbled back, her thin fingers locked over her face as she tried to cope with the pain screaming through her skull and the blood in her eyes. Seth was there in the next instant. He grabbed her and they were running. When Kayla glanced back, she saw Sasha watching them, her eyes tight with rage.

              Driving back, Seth had his fingers tight around the wheel, but his knuckles weren’t white or clenched. He didn’t mutter about how he would go back and slit that woman’s throat. There was none of the rage or hate on the outside. That’s why Kayla was nervous. His silence was worse, the fuming of a hunter who’d tasted blood. Maybe something worse, someone who wanted to protect a loved one and didn’t care what it cost.

              After asking if she was okay, he went silent. He stared ahead into the road. Kayla could feel his calculations and knew that he was thinking of death. He wanted to deal a killing strike. His anger seethed away from him like a chilled breath. The heater couldn’t help.

              “Seth,” she asked, “Are you okay?”

              He snapped back to reality, blinked, and smiled at her. “I’m fine.”

              “No you’re not.”

              “You’re right. I’m not.” He licked his lips, “That’s the third time she’s attacked. This has to end. I hoped she would move onto weaker targets. She’s risking exposure from the Alliance.”

              “You don’t think she’s with them?” Kayla asked, confused about who they could trust. She didn’t know anything about this world. Conspiracy theories were common with well-known organizations like the FBI and police, but here it was even harder. Before Sunday, she’d never heard of the Alliance. She didn’t know there were people who hunted humans who were supposed to be a step away from evolving into demons or angels.

              “No. The Alliance is very good about keeping nascents out of their ranks.”

              “Couldn’t we just tell them then?”

              Seth shook his head, his lips pulled back in a suppressed snarl. “He wouldn’t believe us. He’d probably think that you were corrupted. Demons are supposed to be liars. No, that would put you in too much danger.”

              “I’m willing to take the chance if it could help.”

              “It would be easier if we knew what she wanted.”

              “She talked to me.” Seth didn’t look at her, but she could feel his focus sharpen. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to find any little clue that would lead him into another fight. Part of Kayla didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want to unleash him, because she knew he feared this part of his soul. At the same time, Kayla knew she had to trust him. “She said that she wanted a body. She said that the one she was in didn’t work.”

              “Then we were wrong. She’s not a nascent.”

              “What is she?”

              “The Alliance would call her a full demon,” he said. “To be honest, I’m not sure what they should be named. It’s what happens after we die.”

              “What happens?”

              “Most people disappear. They go away. They’re corpses, done.” Kayla couldn’t believe that, but she wouldn’t get into that fight right there either. “There’s nothing left, but that’s not true with us.” He glanced over at her like he wanted to make sure Kayla wouldn’t break with this theory. “Assuming that we’re the same as the others.”

              “What happens when they die?”

              “They don’t go anywhere. They shift. They become something different, like fields of energy that still have the same personalities. The bodies might be broken, but they can move on and take other forms.”

              “Like shape shifters?”

              “More like ghosts. That’s what I’ve picked up from some of the Alliance reports.”

              “Because they let you borrow them?”

              “Because they let me borrow them when I tell them to and suggest that they shouldn’t remember. Same reason they haven’t been able to find me. Every agent who gets close suddenly decides he didn’t see me, couldn’t find my hiding place, or realized I wasn’t worth the effort.” He didn’t smile, but there was a flicker of a grin that made Kayla think things could be okay. It vanished, and he was serious again, “Once the strong nascents are dead, they jump bodies. But regular human bodies aren’t strong enough to survive the energies we contain. They start to burn apart. It starts with small wounds and gets worse from there. Eventually, the demon jumps or dies.”