Instinct Ascending: Rabids Book 2 (30 page)

“Just do me a favor and don’t check it out at night, or alone. That place has been abandoned this whole time; it might be filled with Rabids or Cuts or street people. None of it good news for a pretty lady.”

“I promise.” She grinned. Her eyes caught on the stamp near Jaron’s name, signing the property over to her. It was the symbol stamped on every entry in his journals. She rubbed a finger over it, the deed feeling heavy in her hands: heavy with promise and adventure. What was this place that Jaron had left to her? Amiel glanced up, noticing the return of Greysen’s soldiers, two large military trucks pulling up in front of the restaurant.

“Looks like your entourage has returned.” She winked, already feeling sad to see him go. Having Greysen around was like having a piece of Jaron around.

“They can wait; I still got five minutes and four bites.” He chuckled, munching down on another forkful of eggs. Amiel chuckled, looking up as the door opened. Her grin faded at the sight of the angry girl, and Alexander quickly turned around to see what upset her.

“Lucy,” Alexander warned, standing up. Lucy ignored him, eyes locked on Amiel.

“You’re the reason he’s dead. I just want you to know that.”

“You’re out of line,” Alexander growled, shifting to stand in her way.

“Maybe. I’ll deal with the consequences later. But I’ll face them with a smile, knowing I’ve told her. Christian deserves that much.” She peeked around Alexander’s frame. “Your family is the scourge of the earth. They say it’s the Rabids, but it’s really people like your family that were killing off our humanity long before the infected came.” She turned and stalked out the door, several soldiers quickly moving to usher her away from the restaurant, apologetic expressions on their faces.

“Alexander?” Amiel asked timidly. His shoulders were stiff, back straight. Very slowly, he turned to face her, and the emotion in his eyes told her there was some truth to what the girl had just said. He quietly came to sit back at the booth, taking her hands in his.

“She’s not normally like that. She’s mourning a friend.”

Amiel swallowed. “Christian?”

Alexander nodded. “Jaron sent him on a special mission a few years ago.”

“What kind of mission?”

“He was sent to befriend and protect someone. Someone special. We just received news two days ago that he was found dead.” He looked up at Amiel. “You knew him as Jeller.”

Amiel’s heart plummeted to her toes. “What?” Her voice lost its power, the word coming out barely audible.

“I didn’t want you to find out this way, not today of all days. I tried to leave her behind at base, but she threw a fit, and I couldn’t keep her from coming. She has many friends amongst the ranks and it would have caused disorder. My superiors ordered me to let her come.”

Amiel reeled. Jeller was a soldier? Thinking back on him now, she could see it so easily: his stature; his keen intellect and insight; his honor and morality.  How had she missed it before? It had never felt right for him to be in the butler position, the job never feeling like it fit him. And then there was the time she’d joked about his name, teasing him over the fact that she doubted it was his real name. He’d grinned so secretively. Her stomach hollowed.

“He’s dead?”

“We all have marks that identify us for what company we belong to. It’s etched into the bone of our lower left leg. It’s a way of marking us, in case Rabids get us. There isn’t much left when they are done, but a mark in the bone is usually still discernible if you can make it past the teeth marks.” His fists clenched.

“Remember I told you we have contacts all over the country, that if you needed us, they could help?” He waited for her to nod. “They found Christian holed up in a section of the forest. He’d drug himself into the trees, tried to defend himself. Signs point to him having been beaten very badly, much of his body broken, before he even ended up in the forest. They found the mark in his bone and connected it to our company.”

“You mean,
someone
did that to him? Not just Rabids, but a real person?” she whispered, heart aching. Alexander nodded slowly, and her mouth went dry.

“What… what did she mean… about my family, about
me
being responsible?” Foreboding hung over her head like a meat cleaver. Alexander’s eyes shifted to stare at the table.

“She was always angry at Jaron for sending him away. Rumor has it Christian and Lucy had a thing; or at least she thought they did. But…” He paused. “Our intel has reason to believe it was your mother that had him tortured and killed.”

“My mother?” Amiel gasped, her achy heart freezing.

“They did some digging around. It wasn’t difficult to find evidence pointing toward that answer.”

“Why? Why would she do such a thing to him?”

Alexander watched her carefully, clearly unsure whether he should say anything.

“Jaron was worried about you. He’d been stressing a lot, back then. We were worried about him, too. It wasn’t too long after he got the tags, actually,” Alexander mused. Shaking his head, he refocused on his story.

“It wasn’t Jaron’s idea to send Christian away. He was hung up on the idea that he should be there to protect you, wracked with guilt over it. Christian and I pulled straws on who would ditch duty and go look after you. Christian won; he left, I stayed. It was our idea, and Jaron didn’t know until the deed was done. Jaron told everyone that he had sent Christian on an important mission, so Christian wouldn’t face charges for his actions. But even though it wasn’t his idea, the change in Jaron was immeasurable. He was instantly put at ease, knowing one of his best men and friends was there looking out for you, befriending you. No one knew Christian’s real mission until now.”

“You think Jaron knew my mother was capable of murder? That’s why he was so worried about me?” Amiel asked uneasily.

“We all knew she was a witch, but I don’t think Jaron knew she was capable of this. If he did, I don’t think he would have left you there. He would have sent Christian with orders to bring you back. I think he truly thought you were safer there, physically.” A man walked through the door, a strained expression on his darkly tanned skin.

“Sir, everyone is back. We need to move out.”

Greysen nodded, dismissing the man, before turning back to her. “I won’t have a cell for a while yet. But I will try to stay in touch with letters until then.”

“The cellphones.” She paused, realization dawning. “Jeller…
Christian
, told me he did deals on the black market, selling cellphones.”

Alexander grinned sadly, confirming her unasked questions. “He is how we always got our cells. It’s why I haven’t gotten another one yet. I’m trying to get back in touch with his contacts, but the man dealt in smoke and shadows.” His words were spoken fondly, reminiscent of his old friend’s skills. “I have to go; we need to be back on patrol. Are you okay?” He stood, smoothing out his uniform, clearly unsure how to leave now that he’d dropped such a big bomb on her head.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. She constrained the voice in her head that was screaming that she wasn’t, that she was on the verge of collapse. “I just have one more question. In Jaron’s journals, he stamped this symbol in each corner of the page. Like a bird flying out of flames. What is it?”

“A phoenix rising from the ashes. It symbolizes rebirth, a never-ending cycle to life. Jaron had them carve it into his bone next to our company mark. It reminded him that there was more to life than the death we saw. It kind of became his crest. The goof was so obsessed with it, he even had a stamp made out of it, so he didn’t have to draw it out every time.” He offered a sad smile. Amiel’s eyes grew distant.

“We all burn, yet from the ashes gain new strength.”

Alexander blinked. “Yeah. Jaron used to say that all the time.”

“Thank you, Alexander.” Amiel stood, hugging the soldier close. “Thank you for coming.”

“I’m sorry to leave you on such a rough note. I wouldn’t have burdened you with this — not now.”

“No, I needed to know. And I’m tougher than I look.”

“I know you are. You’re Jaron’s kid sister.” He squeezed her tighter, before standing back and offering a salute.

“Stay safe, Amiel. I’ll be in contact when I can.” With that, her brother’s best friend walked out the door. Amiel watched, her soul burning from the hate-filled gaze of Lucy as they all entered the vehicles and disappeared down the dark road. Joyce suddenly appeared at her side.

“Wow. What a hullabaloo. That’s the most excitement I’ve seen in this place all year.”              

“Yeah,” Amiel whispered, her mind swirling.

“You okay, Hun?”             

“Not at all,” she replied woodenly, eyes staring into the night, shoulders heavy under a burden of guilt and mourning.

“Oh, Suga.” Joyce reached to hug her from behind. Amiel stood stiff under her friend’s touch, emotions locked tightly away. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’ve lost Harley, it’s my brother’s birthday, a good friend died in a terrible way that I’m partly responsible for, and I just found out my mother is a psychopathic murderer.”

“Yikes. That’s a lot to take in.” Joyce stood silently for a long moment, clearly trying to decide how to best approach the matter. “But, Suga, you ain’t lost me, and I’m here to make things right.”

Amiel smiled half-heartedly. “Thanks, Joyce, but I don’t think you can.”

Joyce turned Amiel by the shoulders so that she faced her. “Well, unfortunately there’s not much I can do about the psychopathic murderin’ mama, or the loss of loved ones. But there’s only one cure for men trouble and heartache.” She paused dramatically.  “Girls’ night.”

“Girls’ night?” Amiel mumbled, thinking back to the girls’ nights she’d had with Charleen, and her heart ached just a little more.

“Yep! You and me. I’ll pick you up at three, and we’ll have a good ol’ time in memory of that sweet brother of yours, and the friend you lost.” Joyce spun happily away, not leaving time to argue. Honestly, Amiel didn’t have the strength to argue anyway. Her head fell forward to press against the cold glass, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

A burning from the tags had her head jerking upright, blurred eyes searching the night. But as quickly as the burning came, it disappeared, and she didn’t see a single Rabid in the street. Rubbing the goose bumps from her arms, she stepped away from the window and the feeling of eyes crawling across her skin. The twitching and trembling in her hands kicked up twofold.

Amiel

Amiel stood outside the apartment complex long before three. She had pushed every piece of furniture in front of the apartment door before she slept, hoping it would be enough of an annoyance that her other side wouldn’t take her for an early morning slaying. After waking and finding the apartment in a state of dishevel, but no signs of having actually left the apartment, Amiel had spent the rest of her time meditating, in search of the center of her storm. She hadn’t found it. Not even a glimpse of it. Filled with that nervous energy, Amiel had been pacing in front of the gates for the last hour. Unfortunately, it had done little to diminish that energy.

Joyce finally pulled up in a taxi cab, and Amiel swallowed her anticipation. Today was a new day, and she was going to seize the crap out of it. Flinging herself into the taxi, she looped arms with Joyce.

“Mind if I take the lead on this girls’ night?”

Joyce eyed her in surprise, before smiling and waving her hands.

“Why not! It’s your day, Suga; you lead, I follow.” It was the answer Amiel had hoped for. Leaning forward, she arranged to have the driver as their personal driver for the rest of the day. Joyce’s eyes bugged out of her head.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“No,” Amiel stated firmly.

“Money bags,” Joyce teased. Amiel grinned and told the driver their destination. After a twenty-minute drive across town, they pulled up in front of a huge building. Joyce looked at it apprehensively.

“Uh… I know I said y’all could take the lead on this, Suga, but I’m tellin’ ya now, I ain’t real keen on ghost huntin’.”

Amiel grinned, moving toward one of the huge windows in front. Wiping away the muck on the glass, she peered inside. The room was huge and lavish, though it was dirty and disheveled.

“It’s a restaurant,” Joyce murmured in surprise, peering through a clean spot of her own on the glass. “A huge, beautiful one in its heyday, I bet.”

Amiel pulled away from the glass. A huge restaurant. What were the chances of that? After all of her stewing and contemplating this morning, to have this tidbit placed before her was like a sign that she was headed in the right direction.

“There’s no such thing as coincidence. Just one big, everlasting loop of destiny.” Amiel grinned, pulling a dazed Joyce along with her, back into the car.

“Take us to Jolleyways, please,” Amiel ordered the cabbie. Joyce groaned.

“Let’s eat somewhere else, pretty please? I’m sick to death of that place.”

“Good, because we’re quitting.” Amiel grinned devilishly.

“Say what? Don’t go talkin’ crazy on me, girl. Unlike you, I
need
a job.”

“And you’ve got one. Just not with Jolleyways.” Amiel sat back with her devil-may-care grin in full flare for the rest of the trip, while Joyce bounced her leg nervously. When they pulled up at the diner, Amiel pulled a reluctant Joyce along with her into the building. Stint was at the register, again pocketing a large sum of cash from the drawer.

“Stint!” she shouted, making the fat man jerk in shock. Amiel immediately walked over to the anti-Hybrid sign and ripped it off the window.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Stint shouted. The day crew, including Cookie and even a surprising shift change of Sunshine, peeked through the doors of the kitchen.

“You’re a disgusting pig of a man! What on earth gives you the idea that you are important and big enough to demean an entire race of people, I have no idea. But it makes me sick! I can’t stand working for your filth another day. I quit!” All the patrons and employees gasped in shock when Amiel tore the sign right down the middle with a long, precise tear. Stint roared in outrage, his meaty fingers fumbling with the latch on the trap door in the counter. Amiel wasn’t done.

“I’m opening my own restaurant. One that will be a hundred times better than yours. One that won’t discriminate against its patrons or workers, with food that doesn’t have rats crawling all over it, and a working bathroom not covered with crap and urine!”

Patrons began gagging and turning green left and right. Amiel may have added in the rat bit, just for fun. But the rest was true enough. Stint roared, charging at her like a bull. Pulling out some impressive ninja skills, Amiel dropped to the ground, falcon punching Stint below the belt, halting his charge immediately. He crumpled to the ground just as a massive internal fist slammed into Amiel’s brain. She shakily rose to her feet, her fury and her Hybrid’s restless energy giving her enough stamina to stand, despite the fact that she was seeing double, a telltale trickle of blood threatening at the back of her nose.

“Anyone who sides with this man is just as pathetic and spineless as him. And eventually karma is going to slam you in the junk, just like I did to him.”

Joyce burst out in a snorting chuckle, and Amiel cleared her throat to cover her slight embarrassment over what she had just said.

“Keep your eyes and ears open for the opening of my restaurant, ‘Fire and Ash’. Any employees at the Jolleyways are welcome to switch to employment with me, immediately. Two-dollar raises to the first twenty who join. Spread the word. Have a lovely day.” Reaching into Stint’s pocket, Amiel pulled out the giant wad of cash that Stint had stashed there.

“What do you think you’re doing, whore!” Stint spat in a much higher voice than usual, face red as he wheezed, still entirely immobile on the floor.

“I’m taking my last paycheck now, since I have no doubt you’re too stingy to pay me for it later.” Amiel placed the rest of the cash on the counter, leaning over Stint’s prone body. She met his hate-filled gaze, and matched it with her own.

“And if you so much as try to put that sign up again, I will release every single picture you have hidden away on your computer. I know some people who would be very interested in seeing them.”

Stint’s eyes widened, and she saw the first very real shiver of fear she’d ever seen in his eyes. Sufficiently satisfied that she had gotten her message across, Amiel turned and walked toward the door. Joyce quickly dived for the cash, grabbing out her own paycheck. Sunshine joined in with an evil chuckle.

Amiel tried to swallow her excitement when Cookie moved forward, taking his share. Nodding to Amiel, he offered a handshake, then silently walked out of the diner. She wasn’t sure if that meant he was joining her endeavor, or just taking the opportunity to leave, but either way, it left Stint without his world-famous cook.

“I’ll see you skinned alive for this.” Stint cursed furiously.

“Try it and I’ll shove what’s left of your manhood down your throat. Even the smallest of objects can cause choking, did you know that?” Amiel replied lightly.

Sunshine burst out in a gut laugh as the three of them left the diner. Sunshine climbed into the taxi with them, and it swiftly drove down the road. Apparently the driver had watched what had gone down and was eager to get far away from Stint’s wrath, if he ever picked himself up off the ground. Amiel leaned her head back against the seat, a tissue from her pocket pressed to her nose to catch the bleeding.

“That was amazeballs!” Sunshine shouted, making Amiel wince.

“No pun intended.” Joyce smirked, before shushing Sunshine and turning to Amiel. “You okay, Hun?”

“Just a headache and nosebleed. I’ll be fine soon.”

“I’d get that too, if I’d just obliterated the junk of a charging fatty!” Sunshine guffawed. Joyce shushed her again.

“That was pretty impressive, Suga. But I hate to say it, runnin’ a restaurant takes a lotta money, even if ya already own the place.”

“I’ve got plenty,” Amiel mumbled, without a doubt in her tone.

“Well, all righty then, Moneybags.” Joyce’s voice made it clear she was glad that she actually did have a job, and she hadn’t just bankrupted herself. Sunshine chuckled.

“When you mentioned those pictures, I thought he’d pee himself for sure. That was pure genius!”

“You do have pictures, don’t you?” Joyce asked.

“Sunshine does. A ton of them.”

“Wow. Just wow. You really know how to go all out on girls’ night, that’s all I can say.”

“We’re not done yet,” Amiel assured her mysteriously, peeking up at her friend.

“Sweet! What’s next?” Sunshine turned toward them, dark mischief on her pale face.

“Oh, no, you ain’t old enough for this fun ride. We’re droppin’ y’all off somewhere.”

Sunshine scowled. “Fine. I already had plans with
your
boyfriend anyways.”

Joyce rolled her eyes. “Real mature.”

“When do I start work, boss?” Sunshine ignored Joyce, poking Amiel in the ribs.

“Joyce is my manager; she’ll let you know.”

“Ohh, no you don’t!” Joyce backpedaled. “I ain’t qualified for that.”

“You’ve been promoted. Congratulations,” Amiel replied. Sunshine motioned for the taxi to pull over, grabbed Joyce’s arm and scribbled her number across it before Joyce could complain.

“See ya, suckas!” The teen jumped out of the taxi, laughing as she walked away.

“Such a joy.” Joyce leaned back in the seat with a sigh of exhaustion. “Well, I’ve gone ghost huntin’, quit my job, and now have a gothic teenaged nightmare’s number on my arm in permanent marker. What’s next? Please tell me somethin’ normal, like a club or somethin’.”

“We’re going to win Harley back.”

“Okay, I’m intrigued. Share with the class.”

“I think he’s been avoiding me all week. And I think it’s because he’s trying to protect me.”

Joyce’s eyes turned thoughtful. “Protect ya from what?”

Amiel paused, carefully phrasing her words. “His life.”

“Well, that sounds ominous.” Joyce chuckled dryly. “Ya make it sound like you’re on opposite sides of the mob or somethin’.” She paused, eyes widening slightly. “You
were
kiddin’ about what ya said about your mama earlier… right?”

Amiel sighed, rubbing the headache that was slowly diminishing. Joyce swallowed audibly.

“Hell fire and brimstone,” Joyce whispered. Amiel felt Joyce’s shiver through their arms that touched as they sat. “Well, in that case, maybe he
is
tryin’ to protect ya.”  

“He’s always protecting me. And I think that’s the problem. I need to step up; I need to show him that he doesn’t have to always be watching my back.”

“How exactly do ya plan to do that?” Joyce asked nervously.

“I have to show him I have the strength to stand up and do what it takes to be with him. I have to show him where I stand. That I stand
with
him.”

“I don’t like that look,” Joyce stated with trepidation.

“What look?” Amiel sat up tiredly.

“The devil horns under the angel halo thing ya got goin’ on.” She crossed her arms, leaning back in the leather seat. “Of course, the way y’all socked Stint in the knickers back there, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a devil in disguise. Granted, ya did the world a service, knowin’ he’ll never father children. But still. What a wallop!”

Amiel grinned, gingerly leaning forward to give directions to the cabbie. “Lime Street, please.”