Flee (The Aurora Lockette Series, Book 1) (18 page)

Cold, unadulterated fear nested at the base
of my spine at the realization that accompanied my knowledge. They
had been following me for a while.

They wavered and flickered, like reception
going bad on a T.V. I swallowed the scream rising in my throat.
They were getting close. Really close.

Oh, shit
.

I sprinted. I made it down to the river’s
edge, avoiding the paved sidewalk where tourists might be.

I glanced behind me again, shocked to see
they were only ten feet away from me. I picked up speed, running
across the loose rocks in the direction Dennis had instructed.

I pretended to stumble over an old car tire
planted by Dennis jutting over the rocks. I fell on my stomach
hard, even though it was controlled movement. By the time I flipped
over onto my back, they were only a few feet away. I didn’t see any
of my companions. I pulled out my gun.

A large form jumped out of the long grass
lining the bank, beheading one of them in one precise movement of a
large machete. I gasped at its head rolled straight to me and came
to rest by my side. “Fly, Aurora!” Damien yelled, still holding the
machete he had just skillfully used.

I launched myself into the air, away from the
other thing. My ascent was violently interrupted. Its hand wrapped
around my non-holstered ankle in a crushing grip. The bones in my
ankle crunched in a sick way, sending jolts of pain up my leg and
into my hip.

Konstantin attacked him from the side,
tackling it mid-air. Its hand released my ankle. They both tumbled
to the ground. I landed behind the thing, now in earnest battle
with Konstantin.

More people spilled out of the brush
surrounding us. Dennis pushed me out of the way. Keith caught my
arm. He pulled me close to him, and then gently rotated me behind
him, creating a barrier between me and the Shyama.

Konstantin had prevailed in his hand-to-hand
combat. The creature was pinned to the ground.

Dennis placed a gun with a thick silencer
against the skull of the thing and literally blew its head off. The
blood and gore splattered on the rocks all around us. Despite what
all my training had prepared me for, the sight was shocking.

Within thirty-seconds, both of the Shyama had
been incapacitated. I was no longer in immediate danger.

Keith stepped away from me, grabbed a large
black duffel bag hidden in the grass, and threw it on the rocks. I
looked up, tearing my eyes away from the two decapitated bodies,
still shocked from the incredible display of violence and gore.
Carmen, Konstantin, Dennis, Karen, Ben, and the other blockers had
stepped out of the long grass and formed a loose circle around the
bodies. Dennis pulled a large machete out of the black duffel bag.
“Quick. Let’s finish this.”

For every mess, there was a clean up. It was
part of the rules. I grabbed a machete out of the bag and joined in
with the rest, dispatching the solid forms into much smaller
parts.

My brain went into shock as I did the
gruesome work. Their bodies looked human, with blood, entrails, and
all the other bells and whistles, but something was wrong. They
broke into crumbly pieces with little effort. Their flesh was ice
cold to the touch, even though they had only been dead for a couple
of minutes.

Once their bodies were destroyed, we threw
the pieces into the swiftly moving river, except for one. Karen
sealed it in a thick plastic evidence bag to take back to the
scientists.

I put my hands in the cold water. The swift
current rinsed the blood off my hands, dim light painting the red
streaks a muted black.

I liked it.

“Karen?” Dennis asked.

She nodded and pulled the backpack off her
back. “Okay, who needs a clothing change?”

I looked down and took in the bright smear of
blood across my chest and shoulders. Several of the others were
covered in blood. I accepted the sweater she threw at me, throwing
her my bloody sweater in return, which she crammed into her bag.
Several others followed suit, changing into non-bloody clothes. I
tried, though not very hard, to avert my eyes from Keith’s
incredibly well-muscled build as he changed shirts.

When we were all changed, Dennis squinted at
all of us in the dark. “Okay. You guys look good. Head back to the
hotel. Go in groups of two or three.” He ran his fingers through
his hair before he spoke again. “Good job.”

I walked back to the hotel with Keith,
ignoring the throbbing in my ankle and the popping sensation with
every step. It had only been fifteen minutes from the time I left
the hotel room and stepped out into the cold night air. Remnants of
fear still trickled through my body.

Keith wrapped one strong arm around my waist.
“I can hear your ankle popping.” He pulled me closer. “Are you
okay? It was a lot, I know.”

“I’m just a little shell shocked.” His arm
felt good around me. I didn’t shrug it off like I should have.

“I’m glad you’re with us now. You’ll do
well.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He leaned closer. “I watched you clean the
blood from your hands in the river. You were excited.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but snapped it
shut and opted for silence instead.

“It means you’re a little wild around the
edges. Remember: you are many things, but human is not one of
them.”

There was acceptance and a little something
more in his eyes, but no judgment.

We were the second group to get back to the
hotel. Damien and Karen were already there, speaking quietly at the
small table in my hotel room. Konstantin and Carmen came shortly,
followed by Dennis and Ben. The other three blockers came in the
final group.

Keith handed me a small scrap of paper with
his name and number written on it. “I don’t want this to be the
last time we talk.” He kissed me on the cheek and walked out of the
room with his handler. I folded it and shoved it into my pocket.
But I couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Soon, everyone had left the room except for
Dennis, Konstantin, and Carmen. Dennis pulled a few beers out of
fridge. “I think this calls for a mini-celebration to a successful
first mission for Aurora,” Dennis said.

We all raised our glasses. The beer was good
in my overheated mouth. Carmen and Konstantin sat cross-legged on
their bed, all smiles.

A thump brought everyone to attention. A beer
bottle was rolling around the ground, bubbling its contents onto
the thin carpet. My eyes jumped to Carmen. She was frozen in place,
her eyes closed, her hands now empty.

Her bright aqua eyes flew open and she jumped
to her feet. “Aurora!”

Konstantin grabbed her arm. “Darling, what is
it?”

She ignored him and kept her gaze fixed on
me. “It’s them. Something’s wrong…your mom.”

The world tightened around me. “What?” I
said. “What do you mean?”

Before she could answer, Konstantin’s cell
phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and flicked it open. “What
is it?”

His eyes moved to me as he heard what the
caller said. “How many? Where?” he asked the caller, pausing
between questions. “We’re on our way.”

He hung up. “They’ve been spotted by the
people watching your mom.” He shut the cell phone and shoved it
back in his pocket. “My people are trying to distract them, but
they need backup before they go against them. They must have
figured out who you are somehow.”

My knees gave out and I sank to the
floor.

No.

Konstantin kneeled next to me. “You stay here
with the blockers. It will be okay I—”

“No!” I said. “I am not staying here with the
blockers. We need to leave.”

Konstantin put his hand on my arm. “It’s not
safe.”

“Screw that!” I shrugged his arm off. “This
is my mom we’re talking about here. I don’t care if I’m safe. You
can sit here and argue about it if you like, but I’m leaving.” I
grabbed my purse and jacket, ready to head out blindly into the
night.

“She’s right. We have no time to waste. Let’s
go,” Dennis interjected, giving Konstantin a hard look. “Go to the
airport. We’ll meet you there. I’ll make some calls and get more
people to meet us there with weapons.” He strode to the door, cell
phone in hand. He paused at the doorway. “How many?”

Konstantin hesitated, his eyes darting to me
and Carmen. “Five,” he finally answered.

Dennis pressed his mouth into a thin line. It
scared the living crap out of me to see steel-nerved Dennis
worried.

“How much time do we have?” he asked.

“Not much, six, seven hours maybe,” Carmen
said.

“I’ll activate our standby units, but we are
the closest.”

I glanced behind me as we headed to the
stairs. Dennis leaned in the doorway of Keith’s room, speaking in
low voices to Keith and Damien. Keith’s eyes flicked to mine right
before I went down the stairs. I hated the pity I saw in them.

I was silent, using my free hand to wipe the
tears from my face. I had to get to Wichita. I couldn’t let
anything bad happen to her.

I barely noticed the engine roaring to life
in the rental. All my energy was far away, wishing for a way to
transport myself to my mother’s side.

Carmen slid in next to me, while Konstantin
sped through the empty streets.

Carmen put her arm around me. “I need you to
calm down. We’ll make it in time. We’re going to protect her,
okay?” She wiped a tear off my cheek. “You want to call her?”

I counted my breaths in and out, fighting for
a calmer place. The panic was there, eating away at the edges, but
I was in control again.

I dialed her number. “Mom?” As soon as I
heard her voice, I could feel the delicate control already
cracking.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re after you, and they are close, in
Wichita.” I choked out the words, losing my fight against the sobs.
“This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“They found me? Where are you? Are you okay?”
Her questions tumbled out.

I was no longer able to speak, my sobs
choking my words. A dark swirl of fear and anger wrapped around me,
pulling at the very fibers of my sanity.

Carmen took the phone from my hand. “Aubrey?
It’s Carmen. Yes, she is safe, with us,” she said after a pause.
“I’m not sure how they found you.” She paused, listening to my mom
speak.

“It’s too late. If you run, it will grab
their attention. Plus, it could make it harder for our people to
get to you.” A much shorter pause. “Use the largest caliber you
have. If you can destroy their head, it incapacitates them for
several hours.”

She handed the phone to me.

“Mom?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I said.

“Do whatever Carmen and Konstantin tell you.
I love you.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s not your fault, baby. I love you. Stay
strong and stay alive, no matter what happens to me.”

“Don’t say that. I love you.”

“I love you more,” she answered before she
hung up.

We made the next flight to Wichita via
Dallas. We boarded immediately.

I leaned my head against the window of the
plane, willing it to take off so we could get to Wichita. I glanced
at my watch. It was 5:00 a.m. My mind raced a million miles a
second, going over every possible scenario. It flashed to my mom,
to the Shyama, to Carmen, to Konstantin, to my sister, and to the
stupid picture of Gavyn in the magazine.

I woke up when the plane touched down in
Dallas. I tapped my feet impatiently while I waited for the plane
to make its endless journey to the gate. My ankle was mostly healed
and had only the slightest hint of discomfort, a great perk of
being one of the gifted.

I jumped out my seat, nearly hitting my head
in the process. Carmen put her arm on mine. “She’s fine. We can’t
make the plane go any faster.”

Konstantin pulled out his cell phone as soon
as we walked off the plane. He snapped the phone shut and spoke to
us in a low voice as we make our way to our departing gate. “One of
them was in your mom’s neighborhood early this morning.”

“What?” I stumbled over my tired feet. He
caught me before I hit the ground and left his arm around my waist.
“Hold on! Please let me finish. Our two blockers took it out. There
are only four left now. The rest of the crew in New Orleans are two
hours behind us. Some more people are driving over from Texas right
now. They are already in south Kansas.”

I walked in circles around the perimeter of
the gate. People glanced at me then looked away. They were trying
not to stare, probably because I was acting crazy. Maybe I was
crazy.

“Drink this.” Carmen handed me a bottle of
water. I gulped the whole thing down. “Now go to the bathroom, wash
your face and hands, and get yourself together.”

I forced my rubbery legs to walk to the
restroom. When I came out of the stall, I confronted my image.

My long hair hung limply around my shoulder
and elbows. In the harsh bathroom lights, my skin was pale, and
sickly white, with splotches of hot red on my cheeks. I had deep
dark circles under my eyes.

I felt an incredible and overpowering surge
of anger toward the Shyama. I grabbed onto the anger like a life
preserver, pulling it inside of me and using it to focus. They had
made me feel this way. They were coming after my mom. They needed
to die. I wanted to make them bleed, make them hurt.

I was ready to fight.

We landed in Wichita two hours later. My
brain had shifted into tactical mode. I looked expectantly at
Carmen as we landed.

“We need to hurry, but your mom is fine right
now.”

As we strode off the tarmac, Konstantin was
on his cell phone, talking in hushed tones so he wouldn’t alarm the
crowds of morning travelers streaming by us. He snapped the phone
shut and motioned with his finger for me and Carmen to come
closer.