Elemental (12 page)

Kara felt humiliated and deflated. How long would she have to stand here like an idiot with guardians laughing at her? She heard a loud snort—they wanted her to fail. She clenched her fists, and pressed on. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. To hell with them.

But nothing happened. The CDD team dispersed after a while and were all talking and laughing amongst themselves. Only Cassiel still seemed eager to help Kara. He clapped his hands as he paced around Kara. “Okay—let’s try it again.”

“Cassiel, we’ve been here for
hours
,” said Devon.

He stood up and turned his attention towards Kara. “Obviously, she can’t
do
anything. She’s nothing special. She’s useless, and she’s wasting our time—”

“Watch your freaking mouth,
dumbass!
”

Kara looked up. And her eyes met David. Her body shivered. She watched him make his way towards Devon and Al. She hadn’t realized until this very moment how much she had missed him.

Devon straightened himself, squared his shoulders and stepped towards David. Kara noticed he was at least a head taller than David, and a lot thicker.

“Did you just call me, dumbass? Who the hell are you? You’re just a worthless little
petty
officer?” Kara didn’t like the way he said petty officer, as though it was something bitter in his mouth. Devon lifted his eyebrows at David, and looked at him with a mixture of disdain and surprise. “I could squish you like bug, boy, for that kind of talk. You little maggot!”

“Big words for the big
dumbass
. Did you think of that yourself, or did you get your crony here to feed you your lines.” David stepped up to Devon and flashed his teeth. He looked Devon up and down and raised his brows. “Man, what the hell are they feeding you at level five? You’re huge!”

“You better get out of my face, if you know what’s good for ya.” Devon towered over David, his face pinched in a deep scowl.

“Can’t do that,” mocked David, his eyes flashed mischievously. “You see, no one talks badly about Kara when I’m around. And now I’m going to have to kick your butt, big man.” He puffed out his chest.

Despite herself, Kara smiled. She locked eyes with David momentarily, and he winked.

Al pushed Devon aside and stood before David. “Why don’t you run along, Shorty—” he gestured with his hand, a few inches from David’s face. “—this is official CDD business. Your
simple
petty officer brain can’t handle it. Beat it.”

David smacked Al’s hand away and stepped closer, until their faces were only an inch apart. “Why don’t you piss off, unibrow. I’ll stand where I please,” David hissed, and his grin turned predatory. He squared his shoulders.

Kara started to feel anxious. She couldn’t help but feel grateful David was standing up for her. But she didn’t want David to get in trouble or ruin his chances to get accepted into CDD. She looked at Cassiel for help, but he just stood there with his arms crossed and a strange smug expression on his face. He looked at her momentarily and then back to the fight. She wasn’t sure if Cassiel was pleased to see David defend her, or to see his troops bullying David. Kara considered throwing him a rock to wipe off his self-satisfied look.

“David, forget it,” Kara pleaded. “It’s fine—really. No big deal.”

Devon squeezed himself in between Al and David. “David, eh? The same David that’s been trying to get in CDD for like…forever? You’re
that
loser?” He mocked. “Check it out, Al. This is the loser that everyone’s been laughing about back in the unit.”

“Shut up, Devon.” Kara was angry. She knew how much the division meant to David. This wasn’t fair.

David’s scowl deepened. “Call me a loser one more time, and you’ll see what a small-timer like me can do to your freaking face.”

Al lifted his right hand momentarily, and made a fist. “We
crush
losers for fun—”

“Stop it!” screamed Kara. Her body trembled. “What is wrong with you people!”

Devon turned to Kara. “Stay out of this, freak.”

For a moment, Kara just stared at Devon. She wished she had a rock to throw at him too.

“Cassiel!” shouted Kara. “Do something!”

Cassiel glanced at Kara. A smile materialized on his face.
What is wrong with him
, she thought. It was as though he was glad this was happening. It wasn’t making any sense.

“Use your feelings, Kara, and direct them to the bench.” Cassiel’s gaze was intense. He threw his arms in the air. “Use that anger! Do it! It’s going to work. Do it now!”

“What? Now? You can’t be serious.” She wasn’t a freak show—Cassiel didn’t care about her, he only cared about her power. Kara saw how Cassiel was trying to provoke her, but he had no idea how powerful or uncontrollable she really was.

Kara saw something black and pointy slip from Al’s sleeve and rest in his palm. It glistened in the light like a black diamond—a Death Blade, Kara realized in horror. How could he have a demon blade in Horizon? Her chest tightened. Al was going to stab David with it.

“Stop!” she called out again.

Anger welled inside her. Her body trembled. She felt a burning hot liquid pouring through her core. Her vision sharpened. The heat spread through her from the tip of her head down to her toes. Her fingers tinkled. It oozed out of her pores, like droplets of sweat. Feral power flared through her, like a wild animal trying to break free from its tether. It wanted to be released.

David’s face was livid. He pushed Devon back. “I told you to watch that mouth!”

Al wrapped his fingers around the handle of the blade. He readied it in his hand.

Kara’s body jerked. She blinked and the world before her took on hues of gold. She raised her hands, two beams of gold blasted from her palms, and Kara was propelled backwards with intense force.

The beams struck Al. Light wrapped around his body like golden ribbons until he was completely covered. He screamed and his body convulsed. He went still and fell motionless to the ground. No sound came from him.

“You killed him!” shouted Devon. He pointed to Kara with a shaking hand. “He’s dead! You killed him you
freak
!” He knelt down beside his friend, his eyes wide in terror.

Kara stared at her hands and shook her head. “I’m—I’m sorry…it was an accident! I didn’t mean to do it.”

She made fists with her trembling hands. The elemental power shifted inside her for a moment then melted away. The shock of what she had done weighed her down. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She knew this was bad, very bad. How could she have done this? Why couldn’t she control it? Desperation and anger flared inside her.

She scanned the ground around Al’s body. The blade had disappeared. She realized that someone had taken it.

Cassiel raced over to Al’s body. He pressed his palms on Al’s chest. White light illuminated his hands, as though tiny light bulbs were stuck to his palms. But after a moment the light went out, and he turned to face Devon with a look of concern.

“He’s not dead, but he’s badly injured. We need to get him to Raphael straight away.”

Kara watched as Cassiel lifted Al’s body as though it weighed no more than a feather. He brushed past Kara and carried him out of the tent. He didn’t look at her.

Devon walked up to Kara. His eyes flashed dangerously. “You’ll pay for this, freak. I don’t care what the archangels say about you—you’re dangerous, and I don’t trust you. Your days are numbered.”

Kara didn’t answer. Devon kicked up sand with his boot and hit her in the face with it. He then turned on his heel and took off after Cassiel.

Kara wiped off the red sand. She couldn’t stop shaking. David ran towards her.

Kara stared at her opened palms and stretched out her fingers—these were the hands of a murderer. She clasped them into tight fists. She trembled.

“H—he had a blade, a Death Blade, David. I saw it.” Her voice shook and she didn’t try to hide it from him. “He was going to stab you with it.”

David took her hand and squeezed it gently. “It’s okay. I believe you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Where’s the blade now?”

Kara shook her head. “I—I don’t know. It’s gone. I swear he had one!”

David was silent for a moment. He let go of Kara’s hand and combed his hair with his fingers. “That means we can’t trust anyone anymore. CDD’s been breached. Who knows how many more demon spies there are in the Legion? But right now we have bigger problems—without the knife, no one will believe us.”

“This is bad…isn’t, David?” She wondered what the Legion would do to her.

She had screwed up before, but this was the worst. She didn’t think they would be lenient this time around.

“Yes. This is
really
bad,” David replied.

Chapter 9

Trial

KARA FELT LIKE AN ABOMINATION
. Scowling faces whispered as she passed on the way to the high council chamber. Guardian angels lurked in doorways watching her. It was like being marked all over again. But this time it was much worse, she realized. She had nearly killed an angel. She was a freak. A monster. She wondered if she truly did belong in Horizon. Freaks and angels didn’t coexist here. Whatever their decision, she knew now how different she was from all the angels. At first being part elemental had made her feel special, unique, but now she felt more like a murderer than anything else. She hoped the council would believe it was an accident.

Kara sloped along behind the oracle, her head hung low. She remembered her mother’s smiling face as she would kiss Kara on the forehead before she went to school. Kara would always wiggle away embarrassed, but deep down she loved her for it. She remembered her mother’s enchanting voice singing Ella Fitzgerald songs. It had always given her goose bumps. Her chest tightened, and she realized she missed her mother painfully. How she could save her mother’s soul, she wondered. Asmodeus would kill her mother—and it was all her fault.

“Come along, Miss Clara. Don’t pay any attention to them,” said the oracle. His bare feet padded above his crystal ball. “What has happened cannot be undone—I have seen it many times before…but it will pass. Do not fret.”

The oracle’s face broke out into innumerable little wrinkles as he smiled warmly at her, like a dried raisin. But Kara stared at the floor as she walked, lips sewn together. She kept playing events over inside her head, wishing she could have stopped herself, or at least warned them of the knife. Al was going to stab David, she saw him. Anger welled inside her chest. Her elemental part had acted on its own to protect David. She had wanted Al dead. The elemental force that flowed in her was as much part of her as she was of it—they were a single entity—and she was aware that both she and her elemental force had wanted to kill.

Was she a killer? Who was she?

She kept her head down. She didn’t trust herself to look up and meet the glares of disgust that spread on the faces of the Legion as they passed.

A snicker reached her ears. Devon stood by the great metal door. He was surrounded by a field group from CDD. Kara recognized their black uniforms. She wondered how long she could still wear hers.

“Told you you’d pay for this,
freak
,” he hissed at Kara. “I never liked you, and I always knew there was a disgusting smell about you. And I was right! You stink of demon. You’ll be cast out forever! Or better yet—your soul will be destroyed!” His minions shook their heads as they mumbled their consensus. Kara kept her eyes low. The humiliation was too much to handle.

“He—he had a Death Blade! I saw it.” Kara shouted.

“A Death Blade?” laughed Devon. “Did you hear that, guys? She says she saw a
Death
Blade
.” Kara winced as his minions laughed hysterically. She clenched her fists.

Devon snickered. “What? Are you going to punch me? Want to kill me too, freak.” He glowered at Kara, his dark eyes glistened menacingly. “So, where’s the blade, huh?”

Kara didn’t answer.

“That’s right,” continued Devon, and stepped dangerously close to Kara, “there
is
no blade. You made it up, you stupid little girl. Don’t think the council will believe lies that come from a traitor’s mouth. You’re done.”

“Yeah…you’re a goner,” said one of the male angels whom Kara didn’t recognize.

“Freak!” said a strikingly beautiful angel with long blonde hair. She laughed at Kara.

“Demon!”

Kara strained to control her shaking. She didn’t want them to see how much their words affected her.

In a swift movement, the oracle steered his giant crystal ball and ploughed through the group. He waved his hands in the air. “Move along now! Move along. The council will not wait.” And with that, the oracle pushed open the great metal door.