Flicker (44 page)

              But then-- Elise barely saw him move-- Alex was on his feet again, something clutched in his hand. Elise gasped sharply.

              She saw it in slow motion-- the jagged bit of pipe in Alex's hand, Rashid's arm coming up defensively-- and she suddenly knew with absolute surety that one of them was going to die in this fight. This was too personal, and too long-coming, for it to end any other way. In an instant of clarity, Elise knew that she couldn't let either of them perish tonight-- and yet she was powerless to stop it.

              Powerless...

             
Not now!
She thought desperately. But the memories pressed against her consciousness, fighting her grip on her own mind. She was shocked to realize, however, that she wasn't resisting memories of her own past-- it was the story of the other, unnamed omnivore Alex and Gregory had told her about weeks ago, the one who had died in a struggle to control him. Helpless, impotent rage swept through her-- for all her supposed strength, Elise was just like him, just a pawn.

             
No
, she told herself fiercely. She whispered it aloud: “No.” And suddenly, it was true, just as it had been true in Allison Springs a month ago-- she wasn't powerless.

              The little ball of energy in her chest exploded, filling her with radiant fury. Elise shrugged Gregory off effortlessly and stood. “Enough,” she snapped in the voice of an avenging angel. The word echoed in the broken rafters, and with it swept a wave of her power, which shoved Rashid and Alex apart as easily as if they were toys, pressing them back against stacks of crates more than ten feet apart. “That's enough,” she repeated, stepping forward until she was nearly between them. Her hands shook with the force of her anger at them all for making her feel this helpless; she could feel her rage trembling through her energy, making her veins hum. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gregory all but fly to his sister's side; she ignored him.

              To her left, Rashid began to struggle against her power; Elise wasn't sure whether she was relieved or concerned that Alex seemed compliant, but she'd worry about him in a minute. She turned to Rashid. “Stop that,” she chastised, scowling at the writhing man as she pressed him harder into the rough wooden crates. After a moment, he gave in, glaring death at her as he subsided into stillness; she pulled back enough that he could breathe easily, but kept herself very carefully shielded from him. After her discovery of his duplicity in stealing her hair, what little trust she'd developed in him had evaporated. “Now, listen.” Elise planted her hands on her hips, thinking hard-- what did she want to say to him, beyond the fact that she refused to let him die? And why wouldn't she let him die, exactly? The crystal-clear memory of Alex's bloody clothes and vacant expression begged the question, revitalized the rage that threatened to drain away from her.

              “You're right,” she sighed simply. Rashid's eyes widened as he watched her speak. “The world is out of balance-- once you pointed it out to me, I could feel it.” She shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I meant what I said about looking the Queen in the eyes; I'm going to do that, and see a good deal more of the world, before I make up my mind what I'd like to do about it.” Elise held up a hand when Rashid opened his mouth to argue. “I'm aware that I may not have a lot of time to decide; I watch the news, I know that there are more than a few wealthy and powerful countries edging toward another world war. But I will not be pressured or blackmailed into acting rashly.” She took a deep breath and continued firmly. “You will have your answer in a year. I am finishing my senior year of high school, taking the summer to tour as much of the world as I can, and then starting college. If--
if--
at the end of next October, I have decided to go along with your plan, we will make arrangements to act upon it.”

              Rashid's eyes were narrowed furiously as he considered her words. Elise watched him carefully, because although she still held him in place, his mind was closed to her; she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But she watched as his rage all but abated in favor of blatant avarice that was tinged with awe. “Hearing about it is one thing,” he breathed, so quietly she barely caught the words. “But it is another thing entirely to witness the extent of your power.”

              Elise didn't even want to think about what he meant by hearing about her, but she couldn't suppress a dry, choked laugh. “You haven't yet,” she told him. “You haven't seen all that I can do. So do you still want me by your side, knowing that I could turn on you like this, that at any moment I can overpower you?”

              Rashid looked her dead in the eye, his own gaze dark and unreadable. Elise could feel him gathering power, but couldn't tell quite what he was doing-- and then suddenly, she felt her grip slipping off of him as if he was made of glass. She stumbled a little as her power slid to his side, and he straightened up, smiling wryly. “We will work on that,” he chuckled, much less condescendingly than Elise would have expected. She felt a cold prickle of fear at the base of her skull as she faced him on even ground, stripped of allies and distractions. Clenching her damp hands into fists, Elise forced herself not to take a step back, to face him down from less than five feet away and make him understand that she was not to be trifled with.

              “Yes,” she replied coolly. “I certainly will.” She put her hands on her hips once more, making her posture dominant but trying to keep away from aggression-- she didn't want to antagonize him, only make him agree with her. “One year,” she reiterated. He cocked an eyebrow at her arrogantly, which served only to irritate her. “Look, Rashid, I can't make an informed decision right now. If you continue to press me, you won't like my answer.”

              Anger flashed through his eyes again. “I will give you your time, child,” he snapped, seeming out of patience. “But what precisely is going to hold you to this? You have just showed me that there are few depths to which you will not sink to deceive me.” A chill swept through Elise as she understood what he was talking about, remembered what had just happened between them as she tried desperately to distract him from Alex. A flash of memory-- his powerful arms holding her, pressing her against his hard body, and his beard scratching across the skin of her throat as his lips and teeth teased at her senses-- made her breathe in sharply, her body tightening. Across the few feet between them, Rashid grinned, leaving her no doubt that he was responsible for her abrupt and vivid recollection. Grinding her teeth, she deliberately reinforced her shield, pushing him away from her mind.

              “You're going to have to trust me,” Elise said firmly. “You want me to trust that if I allow you into my life again next year, that you won't hurt me or the people I care about. So I require this time as a show of good faith.”

              Rashid gave a snort, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the crates behind him. “You expect me to accept on faith that you will not reveal all of this when you go before the Queen? That you will somehow find a way to deceive her about your intentions, to keep her from locking you up in her Court so I can never get to you?”

              Elise looked at him sidelong, trying to decide if he was just manipulating her again. She didn't want to believe that such a thing could happen, and yet, there had to be a reason that Alex and Gregory were so reluctant for her to go to the Court to begin with-- allowing Rashid to walk away without rejecting him outright couldn't possibly help her position. She bit her lip, swallowing hard so she could speak. “Yes. I expect you to believe that I will find a way. Understand, I don't like to lie; I don't enjoy doing it. But I am ruthless, and when people put me in a corner, I will do what I have to do. Let this be a lesson.”

              He studied her intently, looking hard into her eyes; aware that the rest of her life could ride on this moment, Elise refused to blink, wouldn't let herself look away. The only sounds in the dark warehouse were ragged breathing; in the quiet, Elise could hear her own heart thundering.
If he doesn't believe that I can do this, he could take me with him now, and I don't think there's anything I could do to stop him
, she thought frantically.
And yet... If I can't stop him, will I be able to fool the Queen? If she's really as powerful as everyone says, what chance do I stand? I'm just a girl..
. Images flashed through her mind again, visions that would never truly leave her: being held down, helpless, forced; sitting silently in a hospital gown as people talked about her like she wasn't even there; sitting with her hands folded in the uncomfortable courtroom chair, listening to her friends tell lie after lie about her. Empty boxes littering the floor around her as she threw away everything from her old life, preparing to leave herself behind forever, to move to a new town where people wouldn't look at her, wouldn't blame her, wouldn't know. Locking herself away from people, from the world.
No
, she told herself for the second time that night, her mental voice firm and furious.
I am through being the good girl and sitting quietly while other people decide my fate for me. I will make Rashid leave without me, and I will not let the Queen lock me away.
Her back straightened, her chin lifted, and she met Rashid's stare with intense purpose.

              “You have grown, even since I met you,” he said finally, his deep, accented voice neutral.

              Elise narrowed her eyes. “I'm only getting started.”

              Rashid nodded once, decisively. “Good.” Abruptly, he was moving toward her, but Elise stood her ground. When he reached her, he extended his hand.

              “The first of November,” Rashid's voice sounded like a warning.

              After a loaded moment, Elise shook his hand firmly. Rashid's dark-honey eyes bored into hers for a second longer, his warm, calloused hand encompassing hers. Elise knew she would never forget the intensity of his face in that instant.

              And then he released her hand, and she felt the rush of air on her face. He was gone.

              Elise whirled around at the sound of Alex's groan, turning just in time to see him sink to the floor. She rushed to his side and pulled his arm over her shoulders, slipping her own arm around his back to support his weight. “Alex, Alex I'm here,” she gasped frantically, but his eyes were closed and sweat shone on his pasty skin. Elise pressed the inside of her wrist against his clammy forehead; it was ice-cold.

              Without a second thought, Elise pressed the palm of her free hand to his chest, right over his heart, and opened herself to him. As delicately as she could, she drew on the burning ball in her chest, coaxing the tingling power in her heart down her arm and through her palm into his body. “Come on,” she whispered, pushing the prickling, electric feeling into him, desperately hoping that whatever she was doing would help him-- and not hurt him worse.

              “Focus on his heart,” Gregory's soft voice came from just behind her. She spared him a glance; his shirt was bloody, and he had a handprint in blood on his face, but he looked steady.

              “Sarah?” Elise asked tremulously.

              “She'll be fine,” Gregory reassured her. Elise nodded, turning back to Alex. “Find his heartbeat,” Gregory continued, coaching her. “Good. Now, strengthen it. Help it push your power through his body. You want your energy to mix with his blood, to run along his veins and infuse his organs. Fill him with it.” Elise did as he instructed, closing her eyes and envisioning the golden light of her power, as he'd showed it to her when they kissed, shining in his blood and strengthening every part of him.

              “Can you feel his mind?” Gregory murmured after a few minutes, and Elise shrugged, concentrating. “All right, well, this part is more tricky. You need to evoke a response from him. You need to get him to reflect your power back to you, to start a feedback loop, or else this will just drain you to the point where you can't help him enough.” She bit her lip, reaching for Alex within his own head. This should be easy enough-- she knew the feel of his thoughts, the sound of his voice in her mind-- and yet, as she reached for him, she couldn't find him. It was as if he wasn't there-- or like he was closed so tightly away from her that he may as well have been gone.

              Elise swallowed a lump of anguish that tried to take up residence in her throat; in that instant, she would have given anything in the world to hear him, to feel any sense of him.
Alex?
She whispered through his mind.
Alex, can you hear me? Please!
She bit back a sob.
I'm so sorry; this is all my fault. I should have just told you what was going on-- I should have trusted you.
She tasted blood and realized she was biting down on her lip, but couldn't bring herself to stop.
Please come back...

              Unbidden, a memory came to her-- the first day he had walked her home, when she'd bent over him on the sun-washed grass in the park as he laid there, pretending to be dead. His tongue had lolled out of his mouth, and his eyelids flickered as he tried to keep from laughing; she'd bent over him, and thought about kissing him.

              Impulsively, Elise leaned forward and pressed her lips to his once more-- wildly, desperately, hoping with all her will that he would respond.

              Nothing happened-- he remained slumped against her shoulder, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. Elise felt tears fill her eyes as she reached for his mind again, this time consciously calling up a different memory.