Descendant (15 page)

I felt like I was crawling now—but I was still going too fast to stop when someone jumped suddenly in front of me. And col iding with Kael, it turned out, was a lot like hitting a brick wall . Disoriented from our col ision, I shoved off of him and staggered backward, cursing.

“What the hel are you doing?”

“Stopping you from doing something incredibly stupid, that what.”

“I’m not being stupid,” I snapped. “I just want to make sure my family is okay!”

“Yeah, and you’re not going to be able to do that very effectively if you’re dead, now are you?”

“I’d rather be dead then be hanging out here forever, wondering about whether or not they’re dead!”

To my surprise, he didn’t argue back. Instead, his eyes met mine and stared into them for a long time before he spoke again.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” he final y said, shaking his head.

“…Of course I am,” I said. He seemed to consider my answer for a second.

“Okay,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

I’d been ready to keep arguing, and I couldn’t help but give him a skeptical look even as he turned and started towards my house.

“What?”

“We’re still a few minutes from your house,” he said, as if that answered my question. “We need to hurry.”

Unsure what to make of what just happened, I hurried after him, and caught up a few seconds later. Within minutes we reached the edge of my yard, where Kael stopped suddenly. He kept quiet, a pensive look on his face.

“What are we doing?” I asked impatiently.

“We’re waiting for Will ,” he explained. “He should be here any second.”

Sure enough, almost as soon as he’d uttered those words the sound of hurried footsteps reached my ears.

“I can’t find Jack anywhere,” Will said as he ran up to us. He paused and bent over, supporting his weight on his knees and breathing heavily. “It’s weird—the whole place seems clear.”

“I know,” Kael said. “I don’t sense anyone else either—although they were definitely here.”

“Yeah…” Will nodded, looking worried. “The scent of blood is all over this place.”

“Definitely lycan blood,” Kael said, glancing over at me.

I think he meant his words to be reassuring. But the thought of blood-spil ing, whether it was my family’s or otherwise, still made me shudder.

“We’re going to go check the house,” Kael said, turning to Will . “Keep an eye out, wil you?”

“Sure,” Will agreed.

“Come on, Alex,” Kael said, abandoning the cover of the woods and starting across the yard.

I followed closely, casting nervous glances around us as we walked. “Where do you think they went? The ones responsible for the…the blood, I mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Just stay close to me, okay?” he added as we approached the back porch.

I was just about to nod in agreement when a sudden bright light blinded me. I squinted, searching for the source, which I found almost instantly. The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the sight of the sliding glass door. It was laying in several pieces on the ground, the sharp edges glistening in the sunlight.

“Watch your step,” Kael muttered as he picked his way across the glass-strewn porch. I grabbed on to his arm as we stepped inside the house. If the back door was any indication, I real y didn’t want to see the rest of the house.

To my surprise, though, we walked in to find it just as I’d last seen it—perfectly clean and in order, just like my mom always kept it. But despite how it looked, something still seemed off. Something was wrong. The eerie silence that filled the house wasn’t helping the situation—though it was infinitely preferable to the noise that shattered it.

It started as a soft whimper, which was interrupted by a cough, and then final y it became obvious that someone, somewhere nearby, was sobbing. A chill ran up my spine as I hurried into the living room. There, doubled over and resting on her knees at the foot of the stairs, was the last person I expected to see crying. My mom never cried.

Something was real y wrong.

“Mom!” I flew to her side and crouched down, wrapping my arm around her. “Mom…what happened?”

As I spoke I felt her body tense, the body-rocking sobs stopping as she lifted her head and stared vacantly in my direction.

“You,” she whispered quietly. “What are you doing here?”

I was so startled by her question that I had to tighten my grip I was so startled by her question that I had to tighten my grip around her to steady my self.

“I…I live here Mom,” I said. “It’s me…Alex. You know, your daughter?”

She sat up straight then, throwing my arm off of her and shaking her head with a horrible, frantic laugh.

“You’re not my daughter,” she said.

At first I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t say anything. I just stared at my mom as she rocked back and forth like some mental patient who’d spent way too much time in solitary confinement. Just as that rocking started to become unbearable, I final y managed to whisper: “Wh-what?”

“You’re not my daughter,” she replied in a calm voice as she got to her feet, her balance teetering dangerously as she did so.

“Mom… are you okay?” I asked, standing up with her and looking frantically around the room for the people responsible for this horrible, horrible joke.

“Get out of my house!”

My mom took a threatening step toward me then, and I stumbled backwards. The room started to spin. I’m pretty sure I would’ve lost my balance and col apsed to the floor right then and there if it hadn’t been for a strong arm that wrapped around me.

“What happened here?” Kael said quietly, steadying my weight against him.

“Like you don’t know!” My mom wailed, thrusting an accusing finger toward him. “I knew you were bad news from the start! I told you to stay away from us! Just like I told my husband to stay away from all of your kind. We could have lived normal lives, if he would have just listened. But does anybody listen to me? No! And now look…just look!”

“What does Dad have to do with any of this?” I asked.

My mom glared coldly at me. “It was the both of you! You’re just like he was, I knew you were…Oh, I should have got out… Why didn’t I leave while I still could? I should have taken Lora and ran the second I found out about him…

about you.”

“Mom, what are you talking—”

“STOP CALLING ME MOM!”

“Okay, okay!” I gasped, my voice growing slightly hysterical.

“Please…please just tell us what happened!”

“She’s gone. That’s what happened. And it’s all your fault.

They wanted you…I know they did… but you were off doing God only knows what, so they took her instead.”

Her words were almost impossible to decipher amidst her steady sobbing, but it didn’t matter. I still realized, in that instant, what had happened.

“Who’s gone Mom…who…” I whispered.

I wasn’t actual y asking her. I didn’t need to hear the answer I already knew. But I don’t think I would have let myself believe what was happening if my mother hadn’t lifted her head then, looking me straight in the eyes for the first time since I’d entered the room, and said in a desperate, empty voice:

“She’s gone… Lora’s gone.”

If Kael hadn’t picked me up and half-carried, half-dragged me out of the house, I don’t think I ever would’ve gotten up off our living room floor.

It wasn’t fair. It was too much—what had I done to deserve this? More importantly—what had Lora done? Why Lora…

God, why couldn’t it have been anybody but Lora? I should’ve been there. They should’ve taken me instead.

“We don’t have time to be asking why right now, Alex,” Kael said, setting me back on my feet after yet another one of my attempts to crash to the ground. “We’ve got company.”

He didn’t look at me as he spoke, but his voice was gentler than I’d ever heard it.

“Company…?” I repeated. He nodded to the right, and I turned to see two figures making their way across the yard.

The one in front I recognized as Sera, and behind her walked a familiar-looking blonde.

“That’s the guy from the mal ,” I commented tonelessly, my eyes following him as they moved closer.

“His name’s Markus,” Kael said. “He’s Sera’s right-hand man, more or less.”

I could sense the tension in Kael’s voice. I stood up straight and tried to present what I hoped would pass as a formidable face. But I was still shaking miserably.

“Alex!” Sera called once they were about twenty feet away.

“There you are… we were wondering where you’d run off to.

We figured you wouldn’t be long, after we gave Emily time to get back.” Her voice was casual, like she was greeting an old friend. My fists clenched. She was smiling at me.

Both of them were. After a second I had to look away—the sight of them was making me sick to my stomach.

“You look upset, Alex,” Sera said.

I jerked my head up, unable to look away after that. “I wonder why,” I said, my voice quivering.

Sera shrugged. “You know, it’s your fault that it came to this,” she said.

My face grew hot. I tried to take deep, calming breaths, but all I could think about was how badly I wanted to slap that arrogant little grin off her face. I took a step forward, hand out and ready, but Kael grabbed my shoulder, gently, but tightly enough to stop me.

“Now isn’t the time for revenge,” he said quietly.

I glared up at him, but resisted the urge to argue. Kael was right; assuming Markus was half as good a fighter as Sera, the odds definitely weren’t in our favor.

“What’s wrong with right now?” Markus said, sounding disappointed. “C’mon—let her go. We’ll go easy on her.”

“Shut-up, idiot,” Kael growled. Markus looked disgruntled, but didn’t have a chance to say anything else before Kael turned away. As Kael shifted his attention from Markus to Sera, I jerked my shoulder away from his hand. He let me go with little protest, but kept watching me out of the corner of his eye. And he had good reason to keep an eye on me, too—because even though now I was pretty sure he would just stop me every time, the idea of introducing my fist to Sera’s smiling face wasn’t any less tempting.

“Where did they take her sister?” Kael asked.

“Where?” Sera tilted her head sideways and rested her chin on her hand. “Where…let’s see…You know, I think they told me, but I’m afraid it’s slipped my mind.” Kael narrowed his eyes, but Sera just laughed. “You know how I am, Kael,”

Sera said. Then her eyes suddenly hardened, and her voice grew cold. “I can’t remember a thing,” she said.

“This is low, even for you,” Kael said quietly.

“Well thank you,” Sera said, bowing her head. Then her eyes left him and stared directly at me instead.

“You know, Alex—I told you to be mindfull of whose side you were on,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t listen very well , you know that?” She sighed. “And now poor little sister has to pay the price.”

Something snapped.

I didn’t even pause to think—I just launched my self at Sera, fists drawn back and ready to swing. I had to side-step to avoid Kael as he tried to intercept me, but I managed to hit my target—the right side of her face—and next thing I knew I was watching a surprised-looking Sera stumble backward. The look of surprise didn’t last long, however, before it changed to rage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the exact same look cross Markus’ face, and he moved a lot quicker than Sera. I saw him lunge, and I instinctively jumped aside and out of his path.

I could’ve just stayed put, though, because Markus never made it to me—he collied with Kael instead. Kael threw him backward and Markus stumbled, caught off-guard. The two stood facing each other, their bodies tense. But what happened next, I didn’t see, because at the moment I felt two arms lock around me—one around my waist and arms, and the other around my neck.

“A word of advice Alex,” Sera hissed into my ear, tightening the grip she had on my neck so much nearly gagged. “You probably shouldn’t turn your back on someone you just punched in the face.”

I struggled against her, cursing with every breath I managed to take as she crushed her arm against my windpipe. Her to take as she crushed her arm against my windpipe. Her grip only tightened every time I tried to jerk free. Her left arm was wrapped around my waist, and was effectively pinning my arms to my side. My hands and wrists, though, were hanging relatively freely, so I tried twisting my right hand up and digging my nails into her. But my fingers weren’t long enough; I could just barely graze the surface of her skin with their tips.

Only seconds had passed, but it felt like I’d gone minutes without oxygen. Every time I didn’t think Sera’s hold around my neck could possibly get any tighter, it would. I was starting to feel lightheaded, which brought back vivid memories of my near-drowning experience. Not exactly the most calming thoughts that could be fil ing my head right now.

But then something strange began to happen.

The burning sensation started around my elbow and spread down through my fingertips. It didn’t hurt, but it was intense enough to shock me back into the moment. A sudden surge of strength coursed through my arm. I could see the muscles pulsing underneath my skin, and I suddenly felt like I probably could’ve picked Sera up and thrown her across the yard. I didn’t though—I just settled for trying to break free again. And this time, I was met with some success; I managed to get my right hand completely free, and to shove part of my shoulder between her arm and my neck, which let me get a decent breath of air. Then, curious about the burning sensation in my fingertips, I held up my right hand to get a better look.

What I saw caused me to jump back, and the back of my head collied with Sera’s jaw. As Sera cursed my name, my own jaw dropped open and I turned my hand over and over, examining what should’ve been my fingers. But, though they bent and flexed like fingers, they definitely didn’t look like fingers—at least, not entirely. The bottom half of each finger retained its pinkish human flesh, but the tips were grey, and, as I watched, a small patch of reddish colored fur appeared on the back of my hand and began to spread up my arm. At the same time, my nails turned black and began to grow and bend, until they’d shaped into five wickedly curved claws.

This all happened within a matter of seconds, and it took me less than the span of another second to decide what to do next. I flexed my new fingers, while trying not to think about how freakish they looked, and with one fluid motion I struck. The feeling of claws—of my claws—sinking into the flesh of Sera’s arm was unsettling, but strangely gratifying at the same time. I heard Sera gasp in pain, and I jerked my hand back. A second later my face hit the ground as she shoved me away, and I scrambled several feet away before I dared to turn back.

Sera was clutching her arm, but the hand covering her wound wasn’t stopping all the blood flowing from it. Thin ribbons of red streamed out from underneath her hand and dripped to the ground.

I climbed to my feet, returning the glare she was giving me —even though all I real y wanted to do was turn and run as far away from there as possible. My eyes held hers for several seconds before flickering back to her arm, to the damage I’d done. An unnerving feeling came over me, and I glanced down at my hand. It was completely human again.

What the heck?

“Okay, now you’re starting to piss me off,” Sera growled. I looked up from my hand and saw her walking toward me.

Blood continued to seep from her arm, but with every step she took she seemed more and more indifferent to it.

I cast a frantic look back down at my hands. They were still human— blunt, harmless nails and all . And no matter how hard I wil ed it to happen, they stayed that way. In the distance, I could hear snarling and snapping, but I didn’t dare look away again to see how Kael was faring against Markus—even when a sharp yelp of pain echoed across the yard a second later, followed by silence.

“I wonder if you can repeat that little trick?” Sera said, stopping a few feet in front of me. “Might make this fight a little more fair,” she added with a small laugh. As she spoke, she lifted her own hands out in front of her face, and they began to change. Her fingers grew longer, and just as my hands had started to sprout patches of reddish fur, Sera’s began to disappear under a blanket of thick black fur. And then came the claws, black as her fur, curved and deadly.

“Not that I’m real y concerned with fairness—after all , you threw the first punch,” she said with a shrug. The black fur that had started on her hands was making its way up her arms now, and her limbs lengthened and her muscles expanded and contracted with such ferocity that they looked like they might break through the skin. Within seconds, Sera towered over me.

“It was a cheap shot,” she said with an evil grin that exposed her freshly grown fangs.

She fell forward and, now on four legs, our eyes were on the same level again. I took an involuntary step backward. I glanced over my shoulder, but not with any amount of hope.

I might’ve been fast—but she had four legs now and I still only had two. I looked back. Her transformation was nearly complete, and she was already crouched and ready to spring. I was running out of time.

I’d almost made up my mind to make a run for it, when all of a sudden Sera started to shrink away from me. Before I could even begin to guess the reason behind her sudden loss of courage, a blur of silver flew past me and collied with her.

For a split second Sera’s body lay still in the grass, a strange, misshapen creature—mostly wolf but in places still human. But then she climbed to her feet, tossing her head angrily. It only took seconds for her fur to fade back into her human skin and clothes. In another instant she was standing up straight, back to her human size. Her eyes—which were now focused on the wolf that stood between us — still held a menacing look, but her smile was eerily placid.

“Real y, Kael? Is that any way to treat an old friend?” For a brief moment, her face reflected the hurt in her voice, but it was difficult to tell whether that hurt was genuine or not.

Kael stood up on his hind legs then, and by the time he had straightened to his full height he was human once more.

At that moment, Markus stumbled back into sight. My eyes only lingered on him for a few seconds, but it was long enough see that almost the entire right side of his face was now a dark shade of red. He was holding his shoulder and glaring at Kael. Sera glanced over at Markus as he approached, and her expression instantly became murderous.

“You…” Sera started, turning back to Kael. But she didn’t seem to be able to finish her sentence. She tore her eyes away and focused on the ground, her fists clenching. An edgy silence lingered for several moments, and then Kael final y spoke.

“Things are different.” Kael’s voice was quiet, and he looked straight ahead as he spoke. I was confused by his words, but the finality of Kael’s tone told me he probably wasn’t going to elaborate, even if I asked him to. But that didn’t stop Markus from voicing my thoughts for me.

“What the hel is he talking about?” Markus growled at Sera.

But Sera ignored him, her eyes fixed on Kael.

“There are two of us, and one of him,” Markus continued.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s a traitor. So can we just—”

“We’re leaving,” Sera interrupted. She’d already turned and started to walk away.

“What?” Markus said. “You can’t be serious—the girl is “What?” Markus said. “You can’t be serious—the girl is practical y alone, it’s more than we could’ve even hoped for! If we go back empty-handed, with these odds…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sera said, slowing to a stop but keeping her back to Markus. “We’re clearly outnumbered.”

Markus hesitated for a second, but then a look of understanding crossed his face. “And you’d tell Him that?

You would lie to The Creator?”

Sera said nothing to this accusation, she just resumed her steady walk. Markus followed reluctantly. I watched them disappear into the distance, until I suddenly felt a hand close over my wrist.

Kael jerked me around to face him. My eyes narrowed, the fire that had fueled my attack against Sera still far from extinguished. Kael’s mouth twitched, and he looked at me uncertainly for a minute before slowly relaxing his fingers. I jerked my arm away, just as he threw it away— the combined result of which nearly threw my arm out of its socket.

“You…” he said, shaking his head. “Have got to be one of the most reckless people I’ve ever met. Do you have some kind of death wish, punching her in the face like that?”