Blaze (4 page)

“Thanks,” Kira finally stood up, “see you in
ten!” Cheerily, she waved goodbye and turned around to continue her
cover by walking into the newsstand.

Once inside, Kira held her hands out in
front of her and watched the tips of her fingers twitch
uncontrollably. She tried to breathe, pulling resistant air into
her lungs, and fell back against the wall for support. The hard
part was finally over. Soon, the lie would be up and she would just
have to deal with the consequences. Now all she had to do was make
it to the plane on time.

Kira pulled out her phone and texted
Tristan. “Luke is gone. I’m on my way.”

Her phone buzzed almost immediately.
“Handicap passengers just boarded. Get over here quickly.”

Peeking around the entrance, Kira surveyed
the hallway that led to the security for Terminal A. There was no
one on line, which had to mean Luke was already through the check
and headed for the gate.

“I’m sorry,” Kira whispered, almost afraid
her voice would fail her. Something about staring down that empty,
sterile hallway felt like the end—the end of what, she didn’t know,
but definitely an end. “Goodbye,” she said one last time, trying to
ignore the shell encasing her heart. Luke would never trust her the
same way again. She had abused his faith in her, she had used their
friendship as a weapon against him, and there would definitely be a
cost to that. But, Kira thought, growing up meant making choices
and she couldn’t always please everyone.

Kira flipped her body in the opposite
direction and made for Terminal B, ready to start her journey with
Tristan and ready to finally retrieve the answers about her mother,
the ones that had so long eluded her.

The walk was short, but each step felt
heavier and heavier until her shoes practically dragged along the
floor. When Kira reached the line, only one woman was waiting in
front of her. After a minute, a security guard reached out for
Kira’s passport and scanned her ID before waving her through. She
piled her handbag on the conveyor belt, took off her shoes and
waited. A new security guard signaled her over to the X-ray machine
and Kira lifted her foot to step through, but a voice stopped her
dead in her tracks.

“Kira?” Luke called. His voice sounded faint
and far away.

“Kira!” A little stronger now and laced with
panic.

Taking a deep breath, Kira plopped her foot
down and finished crossing the short distance. She was officially
in Terminal B—the decision had been made.

“Kira! Stop!” Luke’s voice was closer now.
Were those footsteps or was she just imagining it?

Quickly, Kira slipped her shoes back on and
reached inside her purse for her headphones. They weren’t attached
to anything, but she zipped her bag to make it look that way and
kept walking past the security check, trying to ignore the voice
calling after her.

“Kira! You went the wrong way!” The
frustration in his voice was obvious, but that was all there was.
He still didn’t get it. He just thought she was lost.

Hard as it was, Kira continued to amble down
the walkway towards her gate. Trying to act nonchalant, she bobbed
her head as if listening to real music and pretended to look around
as if searching for Luke. He shouted her name once or twice more,
but she kept shuffling her feet further and further away from him,
using her headphones as an excuse for deafness.

There was a bend fifteen—no ten—now
five—feet away. Kira rounded the corner, safe from Luke’s eyes, and
pulled out the earplugs. It was go time. Her plane to Atlanta was
boarding and she didn’t have a second to spare.

A vibration tickled her arm and Kira knew
Luke was trying to call her. She kept walking and looked for
Tristan’s sleek black hair in the crowd.

He saw her first and stood up, waving Kira
over to the seats he had secured.

“Are you okay?” He asked once she sat down.
Concerned deepened his blue eyes and Kira could tell he was worried
for her. It was her plan after all—her plan to go to England, her
plan to keep Luke safe and out of the loop, and her plan to ditch
him in the airport. Tristan was following Kira’s rules now, which
meant Luke’s reaction was completely her fault. She couldn’t blame
anyone else for the hurt he was about to feel.

“He thinks I’m just in the wrong terminal,”
Kira said and shook her head, “he’s too trusting.” Or I’m too
heartless, Kira thought before smashing the thought down with the
rest of the emotions she was suppressing. Too many were bubbling
beneath the surface and at the moment, Kira didn’t want to feel
anything. Once they were in the air, and there was really no
turning back, she would feel better about the whole thing. At least
she hoped so…

“Doesn’t he know security wouldn’t let you
through the wrong terminal?” Tristan reached into his bag,
searching for something.

“I don’t know. I didn’t turn around to
check.” Kira leaned back in the seat, completely deflated and
drained of energy.

“I had a feeling something like this would
happen, so…” he kept rumbling through his bag for another minute
before pulling out a grocery bag, “I came prepared. We have salt
& vinegar chips,” he pulled the single serving from his bag and
kept speaking, “some double chocolate chip cookies, cheesy popcorn,
a diet coke, a regular coke if it’s really serious, and of course,
me.” He finished with a wink and Kira smirked subconsciously. Then
she ripped open the salty chips and started munching.

“We should be boarding in a minute or so,
first class was just loaded onto the plane and I think they called
zone one,” Tristan said and zipped the rest of his goodies back
inside his bag. Kira knew she would be pulling those out later.

He rested his arm around her shoulder and
Kira relaxed under the weight of his muscles. Leaning in, Tristan
whispered, “Everything is going to be fine,” into Kira’s ear and
she willed herself to believe it. But, she was too busy enjoying
the potato chips to formulate a response. It didn’t matter though
because Tristan kept talking to her.

“We’ll land in England, go to Aldrich’s
castle and demand to see your mother. She’ll be there, healthy as
can be, and we’ll work some sort of deal out with Aldrich,” he said
softly. While he spoke, Tristan rubbed her arm with his thumb,
gently soothing Kira. “Before you know it, we’ll be back here and
everything will go back to normal. I’ll finally get you surfing
those big waves down at Folly Beach and we’ll take a trip down to
Savannah like I promised we would this summer. Next year, you’ll
find a restaurant job, you’ll cook for all three of your parents
and you’ll forget all of this nonsense ever happened. You can leave
Sonnyville and the conduits behind and have the life you always
dreamed of having. You’ll see.”

Kira sighed as Tristan hugged her even
closer. His words were a dream, a complete fantasy. She could never
go back. Neither Tristan nor Luke fit into that plan, which meant
it didn’t work for her anymore. But Kira had no idea what her new
plan should be.

“Attention, can Kira Dawson please pick up a
yellow emergency phone? Passenger Kira Dawson to a yellow emergency
phone, please.”

Tristan and Kira jumped up at the same
time.

“Luke?” Tristan asked.

“Almost undoubtedly,” Kira responded, “Let’s
just ignore him.”

“Kira,” Tristan said gently, “He’s your best
friend, and I can’t believe I’m the one who’s saying this, but he
deserves better than a hastily written letter.”

“I know. I just can’t face him yet.
I’m—”

“Attention all passengers on flight 2963 to
Atlanta, Georgia,” a female voice spoke over the load speaker. “All
passengers in zone three are welcome to board. Again, that is all
passengers in zone three.”

“That’s us,” Tristan said and stood up. Kira
followed him to the line and each of them handed the gate attendant
a ticket. They followed the slowly moving progression of passengers
until crossing into the plane and sliding into their seats.

Kira pushed her handbag far under the seat
in front of her, burying her phone with it. Tristan placed his
heavy hand on her legs to keep them from bouncing. Kira stopped
fidgeting and took his hand—they were almost in the clear, but she
wouldn’t feel totally free until they were thousands of miles in
the air.

The flight attendant was walking down the
aisle, closing overhead compartments and checking people’s
seatbelts. He stilled in front of Kira and Tristan, reaching behind
his back for a fake seatbelt and life jacket. Kira turned to the
side, ignoring the security protocol to look out the window at the
airport. The plane started moving, gently easing away from the
brown stone building. For a moment, Kira swore she saw Luke with
two hands pressed firmly against sweeping glass windows, searching
the grounds for her. She blinked and the image was gone—a mirage
formed from her worry.

Shaking her head, Kira squeezed Tristan’s
hand and leaned back to shut her eyes and sleep. The steady thud of
her heart sounded loud in her ears and Kira counted silently,
hoping to bring her body to rest.

Just as her pulse seemed to slow, a piercing
cry broke the calm and sent a shooting pain down her spine, from
her brain to her heart. The pressure in her skull grew, as if her
blood were thickening and pushing against her bone. Sharp needles
pierced the spots behind her eyes and Kira brought her hands to her
temples trying to calm the storm. She kept her lids closed,
breathing deeply, trying to quell the pain spreading from nerve to
nerve. A fierce burn started in her heart, spreading to her limbs
with each pump of blood, and her ears began to ring in fury. Pain
and anger intertwined, braiding together in an unbreakable knot,
and Kira knew exactly what it meant.

Luke had found the note. There was no other
explanation for the sudden onslaught of emotions, but Kira forced
her body to still—Tristan couldn’t know. She had never told him of
her bond with Luke.

It was all mental, Kira reminded herself and
pushed against the overwhelming flood. None of this pain was truly
hers, but it was really Luke’s and Kira couldn’t breathe for
finally realizing what she was putting him through.

Reaching shaking hands to the ground, Kira
fumbled for her purse and pulled out her phone. She needed to call
him. She needed to explain. Of course a note wouldn’t suffice—it
couldn’t explain everything she needed to say. That this wasn’t
about choosing Tristan and it wasn’t completely about saving her
mother—it was about keeping Luke safe and out of harm. Aldrich had
invited Tristan, but had made no mention of Luke. Aldrich would
have shown no mercy with Luke, would have taken no pause in killing
him. And Kira would never take that chance with Luke’s life. Diana
had almost killed him once, and she wouldn’t let something like
that happen ever again.

Kira flipped her phone open, ignoring the
concerned expression Tristan was throwing her way.

Before getting the chance to dial, an
onslaught of alerts popped up on the screen. Five missed calls from
Luke, and then text messages:

“Kira, you idiot, you went the wrong
way.”

“Kira—seriously? You’re listening to music
right now. Turn around and go to Terminal A.”

“Did you hear that? They’re saying your name
over the loud speaker.”

“You should have told me you lost your
hearing, I would have gotten you really spiffy aids for your
birthday. Bedazzled and everything.”

“Okay, this is no longer funny, what is
going on. Where are you?”

“You left. With him. Without me. Didn’t
you?”

“A note. Really?”

“So that is all I get?”

“If you don’t call me right now, I’m done. I
swear. I’m done.”

Blank.

“Miss?” Kira turned to sound of a unfamiliar
man’s voice. The flight attendant. Her eyes burned and she couldn’t
focus on his features. The blurred image was motioning to her
phone. “The captain said to turn off all of electronics. I’m sorry,
but that includes your phone. We’re about to take-off.” Kira looked
back down at the screen. “Miss?” He said, concern filling his
voice.

Tristan’s cool fingers pulled the phone free
of Kira’s hand and he shut it for her before thanking the flight
attendant. Kira couldn’t turn her gaze from the empty spots between
her fingers. Done, was all she could think, he was done.

“I need to call him,” Kira said, coming to
life again. “Tristan, I need to call him.”

Sensing Kira was on the brink of falling
apart in her seat, Tristan handed her the phone. The plane was
moving faster, shooting down the runway, as Kira began to dial
Luke’s number.

It rang once before the plane lifted off the
ground.

Twice before the plane soared even
higher.

“Kir—” Luke’s voice began, but he was
interrupted by a beep and the line went dead.

“Luke?” Kira said into the receiver. “Luke?
Luke!” Her voice was panicked. She pulled back to look at the
screen. No service. They were out of range, flying away from Luke
just as she had planned—leaving him behind and all Kira could think
was “done.”

Chapter Three

Kira felt like a zombie, following Tristan
as he led her through passport control and customs. She watched the
conveyor belt spin suitcases around baggage claim, but the metal
blades lost focus in her glazed over gaze.

Tristan had spent the entire flight to
Atlanta reassuring her that in no time at all she could call Luke
and fix everything. When they landed, Kira tried calling Luke over
and over again, but each ring went straight to voicemail and she
couldn’t bring herself to leave messages. She didn’t know what to
say in only thirty seconds—there were no magic words she could
speak to make him understand.

Tristan had spent the entire flight to
England reassuring her that Luke would eventually forgive her. When
they landed, Kira called him again but once more there was no
answer. As the realization that she had probably lost her best
friend finally hit, Kira shut down. Tristan saw the
transformation—saw the fall of her shoulders, the hunch of her
back, the downturn of her lips and the disappearing light in her
eyes. More so, he faintly heard her heart slow and felt the
normally churning heat in her body recede.