Flee (The Aurora Lockette Series, Book 1) (19 page)

“The two blockers are sitting in front of her
house in a SUV. The Shyama are in the neighborhood, but they’re
hiding. The crew from New Orleans will land in about forty-five
minutes.”

“Can I call her?” I asked.

“If you call your mom when you are this
close, it’s going to put a beacon on her.”

“Okay.”

Carmen spoke up. “Let’s get food and
caffeine. Come on.”

“We need to go!”

“Konstantin is getting the rental car, which
is going to take a few minutes. I can’t make it go any faster. You
need fuel.”

She hooked her arm through mine and directed
me to a fast food restaurant. We loaded up with food and soft
drinks then met Konstantin outside, who was waiting in the rental
car.

I forced myself to eat while he drove. Dark
gray and black clouds gathered in the sky. A serious Midwestern
super cell thunderstorm was rolling in.

My anxiety built as we got closer to my mom’s
house. I couldn’t wait to see her face, just to know she was really
okay.

Carmen stiffened in her seat, breathing
heavily as we pulled onto my mom’s street. “They are close. Very
close.”

We pulled up behind the large black SUV
parked in front of the house. Two very tall, Hispanic guys emerged
from the SUV as we rolled to a stop. They waited outside my door
until I got out, then formed a protective boundary around me we
while ran up the long driveway.

My mom yanked open the front door to let all
of us in, then slammed it behind us, locking the three extra bolts
she had installed on the door years ago.

She pulled me into a hug. “You should have
stayed in Orleans. It isn’t safe for you,” she said, her green eyes
probing mine. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Are you?”

A flash of lightening interrupted our
reunion. A loud smattering of wind-blown rainwater pattered against
the window. Carmen looked out the large window at the ever
darkening sky. “This is going to be a nasty one. It’s getting
dark.”

She put her pale hand on the window and
closed her eyes. We were all silent as she used her gift. “They are
preparing to attack. They’re going to use the storm as cover. We
need to get ready. Now.”

Konstantin turned his attention to my mom.
“What do you have?”

She led him over to the couch, where she had
laid out her weapons and ammo. Konstantin and my mom had a quick
discussion before handing out my mom’s impressive collection of
handguns. I had always made fun of her for her interest in
firearms, but now I understood.

Konstantin and the blockers went methodically
through the house, planning a defense and identifying all the entry
points.

An impossibly loud boom of thunder shook the
house. I peered outside the large ceiling to floor window that
dominated the living room. The front lawn was neatly manicured with
a row of round shrubs. The storm darkened sky cast everything in
deep blue light. Wind gusts shook the branches of the trees with
violent force. The familiar scene of my childhood was transformed
into a menacing landscape.

As my eyes roamed over the yard, a dark
shadow rose above the hedge, barely visible in the swirling rain
and darkness.

I could clearly see a head, shoulders, arms,
and legs, but it didn’t have a face. The inhumanity of it hit me
hard. “It’s outside.”

“Get away from the window!” Carmen
screamed.

Before I had time to step back, the window
exploded, sending a shower of glass everywhere. Something large,
cold, and hard shot through the window, tackling me and pinning me
against the far wall of living room. My head made contact with the
opposite wall with a loud crack. I struggled to understand how I
had traveled fifteen feet in one second. My gun flew out my
hand.

It pinned me against the wall, holding me in
place with a cold hand around my neck. It squeezed hard, choking
off my breath. I stared at the thing in front of me as it drained
the life out of me. Where the face should be there was nothing but
darkness, a swirling, moving, cluster of black matter. I tried to
scream, but I couldn’t. I struggled violently, kicking like a mad
woman. My head throbbed in pain.

My leg made contact with its body and its
grip loosened. The thing made a strange clicking sound, originating
somewhere where its face should be. The inhuman noise spurred my
fear, and I clawed at its cold unsubstantial strange skin, gouging
bloody holes.

One of the blockers pounced on it from
behind, sending it to the floor in front of me. Once its grip was
released from my throat, I sunk to the ground, gasping for air.

It fought back, throwing the blocker with
super-human force out the broken front window.

Konstantin and Carmen jumped on top of it,
struggling to keep it down. The third blocker jumped in, pinning it
to the ground. It struggled, rapidly flickering like the ones I had
seen in New Orleans. “Hurry. I can’t keep it from moving for long,”
Carmen said.

I lunged forward, looking for the gun I had
dropped, still gasping for breath. As I clamored on the floor in
confusion, five steady shots exploded near my ear. I looked up as
my mom lowered her gun. She had delivered the shots precisely to
the thing’s head, or at least the place where its head used to be.
Gore was now splattered over her green couch, ivory wall, and me.
Carmen, Konstantin, and the blocker were still pinning its now limp
body down, but they were unharmed.

My mom pulled me off the ground. “Are you
okay?” she said, her fingers probing the painful spot at the back
of my head.

“I think so.” My voice was scratchy and
weird.

She pressed my dropped gun into my hand. “Try
and keep it with you this time, okay?”

“They’re coming!” Carmen shouted over the
rain and wind now howling through the open window.

Three more hazy, dark figures filled the
street, standing in the swirling wind and heavy rain. In perfect
unison, they drifted up the length of the long driveway.

A pair of headlights pierced the darkness
down the street. The car slammed to an abrupt stop in front of the
house and a tall, familiar figure jumped out and started jogging up
the driveway.

No!

He was running to the dark figures. He would
encounter them in mere seconds, and they would kill him.
“Gavyn!”

“Oh no,” Konstantin breathed.

I was out the door and zooming to Gavyn
before anyone could stop me. I had to at least try to save him.

As I flew forward, the three figures flashed
closer to me. I was, for the moment, a complete exposed target that
caught their attention.

I was dead meat.

As Gavyn passed within their reach, they
froze in their track and began backing away, all in different
directions. Their unified movements were gone, their flickering
movements muted.

Gavyn reached me. “Aurora,” he whispered. He
wrapped his arms around me. An ocean of emotion ran through me when
his voice reached my ears and his flesh touched mine. He was here,
holding me, but we were going to die.

He pushed me behind him, holding his arms out
to block me from them. He backed us up, until we were near the
house.

One was moving in erratic, slow, pace down
the street. One was standing near the garage, staring dumbly at the
wall, the other was still advancing. It flashed and was suddenly
within arms reach of me. Gavyn tackled it, pushing it up against
the wall.

It threw Gavyn off, sending him alarmingly
high into the air and out of my field of vision. Before I could
even look to see where he was, it had me pinned to the ground, its
strange clicking noises drowning out all the noises around me. Its
cold hand pushed into my chest, sinking suddenly unsubstantial
fingers into my body.

Freezing cold rushed though me, slowing my
heart beat.
So this is how they kill.

I struggled wildly, trying to gain the
slightest inch of wiggle room.

The other Shyama snapped out of their
reverie, moving toward me faster than anything should be able to
travel.

I brought my knee up, driving my leg into it
with all strength in my body. It was momentarily stunned, releasing
its grip enough for me to free my hand. I shoved the gun into the
swirling mass of its face and pulled the trigger. Guts exploded all
over, filling my mouth with blood. I pushed it off me, coughing as
I struggled to stand, searching for Gavyn.

Gavyn was crumpled on the edge of the lawn in
a too-still heap, one arm splayed out to the side.

My mom was running toward me, screaming my
name. The blockers were following her as the remaining two Shyama
closed in.

Konstantin and Carmen poured out of the
house. The lawn became a loud haze of rain, thunder, lightening,
and flashes of gunfire and glint of knives.

I stumbled to my feet. “Get back in the
house!” I screamed at my mom.

“I’ll help you get Gavyn!” she yelled over
the battle.

The Shyama flashed and re-apparated all over
the lawn in a dizzying display of speed. Carmen crumpled to the
ground, clutching her shoulder as blood poured from it. She scooted
on her butt into the open front door, pain written across her
face.

I shared a glance with my mom. We ran to
Gavyn across the spinning vortex of shadow and flesh. One of the
Shyama tried to tackle us, but I pushed it off, sending it tumbling
into Konstantin. He grabbed its arms while one of the blockers
hacked its neck with the meanest looking axe I have ever seen,
decapitating it in three powerful swings.

“Carmen, she’s hurt,” I told Konstantin.

“I know. Go to Gavyn. Hurry,” Konstantin
panted. “We can handle the other one.”

I ran to Gavyn, my mom not far behind me.

“Gavyn!” My knees sank into the mud and
grass.

“Aurora.” His eyes fluttered opened. He
grunted and crunched his abs, trying to sit up.

“Slowly,” my mom said, gun still raised. She
eyed the battle. The blockers had successfully overpowered the
remaining Shyama and forced it into the side door of her garage,
out of public view. She reluctantly holstered her gun before
crouching next to him.

“Does your neck hurt? Can you feel your
toes?” she asked him.

“I’m okay. I was unconscious for a minute, I
think.” He carefully unfolded his body until he was standing. “I’m
fine, actually.”

He stood in front of us, a tiny smile pulling
at the corner of his mouth.

He’s okay. He’s here.

The world started to spin. Black encroached
on the corners of my vision.

“She’s passing out,” my mother said, but her
voice was muted. I couldn’t hear much over the roar in my ears.

Gavyn’s strong arms wrapped around me.
“Careful, don’t hurt yourself,” my mom said.

I wanted to protest, to tell him to rest and
not to carry me, but my lips could not form the words.

Gavyn carried me back into the house through
the open front door, past the shocked eyes of my mom who held it
open for us. We were both soaked from the heavy rain. He gently
lowered me to the floor.

He kneeled next to me, pulling my face closer
to his. “I’ve been looking for you for months. We’re supposed to be
together. I’m supposed to protect you. I can feel it. Aurora,
please. We need to be together.” He pulled me closer to him. “Thank
God you’re okay. I can’t live without you. Please, don’t leave like
that again.”

He pulled me into a seated position. “Please
say something. Please tell me you’re okay.”

“Are you really here? Are you really okay?” I
whispered.

A huge smile broke out on his face. “Yes. I’m
here and I’m fine.”

A soft cough brought us out of our reverie. I
had forgotten about all the other people in the room, the broken
window, the storm, and even the incapacitated Shyama. Gavyn was all
I could see. I stood on shaky legs.

Konstantin came in through the door.
“Neutralized rather quickly. Gavyn saved us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The handler bond,” Carmen said. She was
leaned up against the couch while my mom bandaged her arm.
“Gavyn.”

“Handler?” Gavyn echoed. “What the heck is
going on? Does this have something to do your flying thing?”

Konstantin spoke. “We have a lot to explain
to you, but yes, your instincts have led you here today for a
reason.”

Konstantin’s cell phone rang, startling
everyone. He flicked it open and turned away, muttering into
it.

He came back and put his arm around Carmen’s
shoulders. “Dennis and the crew are down the street. We’re going to
move this operation into the garage.”

“Excuse us.” Gavyn grabbed my arm and led me
away from the living room, into the first open door he could find.
He shut the guest room door behind us, spun me around, and put his
hand on my face. His finger traced around my rain soaked forehead,
nose, and lips. “Are you okay? I can’t believe I’m looking at you
right now. I thought I’d lost you forever.”

“What are you doing here?”

He rested his palm against my cheek. “What am
I doing here? I’ve been searching for you ever since you ran away.
I tried calling you, I tracked down your old friends in San
Antonio, but nobody knew where you were. Did you think I didn’t
want to be with you anymore? That I could walk away from the best
thing that ever came into my life?”

“I thought you were afraid. I was trying to
protect you,” I said. “What about Mira? I saw your picture.”

“Oh my,” he said with a low chuckle. “You, of
all people, should know how the paparazzi are. I went to lunch with
her and her fiancé. I gave her a hug as we were leaving and they
snapped a shot, cropped her fiancé out, and called us an item.” He
pulled me even closer. “It’s you, Aurora. It’s always been
you.”

I wiped a stupid stray tear off my face.
While my arm was raised, he pushed up my sleeve further so he could
look at the bracelet. “You never took this off?”