Redemption (16 page)

Climbing to his feet, Jake ignored the people around him, not even caring when buildings and cars began to blow up. Aiden laughed, his eyes glowing. A man ran down the street screaming as flames licked up his back. Jake turned away. There was nothing he could do.

They continued their destruction until there was nothing left for as far as Jake could see. No building remained standing. Every car was smashed. Bodies littered the street.

Jake released the storm, his shoulders slouching from exhaustion. He’d never sustained one that long. He tried to ignore what his power had done.

His storm hadn’t been nearly as harmful as Raphael’s earthquake. But he couldn’t deny he’d played a part.

Aiden grinned, a genuine smile of delight. “Yes. I believe this will work.”

“So you’ll join with me?” Raphael asked.

Snorting, Aiden shook his head. “Me? No. This was a test to see how well you and Jake work together.”

Raphael stared at him for several seconds. “You expect me to join with a
child
?”

“Join? No, but fight with, yes. I want you and Jake to team up in the final battle.”

Raphael narrowed his eyes and pointed at Jake. “First of all, destroying a city is one thing. You just work your magic with no one to stop you. But the battle will be entirely different. Someone’s going to actually fight back and he’s a child. What does he know about fighting?”

Aiden lifted an eyebrow with a grin.

Jake needed no prodding. He hated Raphael. He sent a strong wind toward him and Raphael flew backward, his body bending forward before he crashed into a pile of rubble.

Scrambling to his feet, Raphael lifted his arm and his eyes glowed. A crack split across the asphalt, sucking in the smashed cars and pieces of buildings in its path, heading for Jake.

Jake was tired from his storm but his hatred made him strong. He jumped out of the way of the crack, throwing fire at Raphael as he leapt into the air.

A gust of wind caught Raphael in mid-leap, tossing him against a partially collapsed wall. Raphael growled and the ground shook beneath Jake, and he fought to remain upright.

“Enough.”

Ignoring the command, Jake continued his onslaught.

“
I said enough
.” Aiden’s voice filled his head as well as the air.

Jake stood with both feet apart, his hands clenched at his sides, and his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. It had felt good to release his hatred with his power, but he was frustrated that Aiden made him stop.

Raphael lay sprawled on the ground, blood trailing down the side of his face.

Aiden laughed. “Still consider him a defenseless child?”

Jake couldn’t help gloating, but he wished that Aiden had let him finish Raphael off.

Casting a glance at Jake, Aiden pursed his lips. “All in good time, Jake.”

Raphael pushed off the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the street.

“Tomorrow we shall do this again.”

“Why the hell would I do that?” Raphael bent over, resting his elbows on his thighs.

“Because you need me and Jake and if you don’t show, you’ll lose any chance of aligning with us.”

Raphael shook his head and groaned, raising his hand to his temple. “Maybe I’ll just team up with Alex.”

Aiden crossed his arms. “Doubtful. You hate him more than you hate me, which is saying something. Then there’s the fact that Jake has more power in his little finger than Alex ever dreamed of possessing.”

“There’s three of us here and only two will survive. It’s not hard to figure out which two you’re planning to make it to the end with you.”

Shaking his head, Aiden laughed. “You’ll be dead if you don’t. But if you help me, there might be a way for you to survive this with us.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Only two survive.”

“Oh, Raphael. Haven’t you figured out by now that I always have a backup plan? Who do you want to be on your side at the end? Me and Jake? Or Alex?”

“And if I refuse you all?”

“Good luck surviving on your own. You’ll have chosen a side. And it won’t be mine.”

Raising an eyebrow, Raphael winced and reached up to the cut on his forehead. “And how is that different than what we are now?”

“Because right now we’re more like adversaries working toward the same goal.”

“And that goal is…?”

“To keep Emma on her toes, to distract her from strengthening her power with Will. To hopefully create animosity between them.”

“And Marcus?”

“Wherever Will is, I’m sure Marcus won’t be far behind. Now that everything is out in the open, Marcus won’t want to lose his precious leverage.” Aiden looked at Jake with a grin. “And perhaps Jake will see his mother sooner.”

Jake was scared about what else he’d have to do to make that happen.

Raphael traveled with them on the plane to their next city. He and Aiden sat at the front of the plane, on separate sides of the aisle, talking in hushed tones. Jake sat several rows back with Antonia. Her hands shook in her lap, clutching her rosary beads. Jake stared at the back of the seat in front of him, the little girl’s face appearing in his mind as soon as he closed his eyes. Was she dead, smashed under some giant pieces of building? Did her blood run into what was left of the street? His insides crawled with unseen bugs, then they moved to his head, and he felt like he was going to scream.

Antonia took his hand and cooed soothing sounds into his ear. Jake leaned his head on her shoulder, pretending she was Mommy. He needed Antonia and that scared him.

The plane landed and Aiden told Raphael, Jake and Antonia to wait on the tarmac while he talked to the pilot.

Aiden didn’t tell Jake where they were going, but if he didn’t want Jake to know, he must have forgotten that Jake knew how to read.
Jackson, Mississippi
was on a sign over a building at the airport. The name seemed familiar.

“The fucking South again?” Raphael stood next to the plane, wiping his brow as Aiden climbed down the ladder. Sweat dampened his shirt.

“There’s a reason,” Aiden said in monotone.

“Want to share it?”

“Not especially.”

Raphael’s eyes hardened as put his hands on his hips. “You expect me to just blindly follow you around like a puppy?”

“Yes.”

“I could leave right now.”

“Then go.”

Raphael’s face pinched in hatred and frustration.

Jake wished he
would
leave. Being with Aiden was bad enough, but the anger and hostility coming off of Raphael was suffocating.

Raphael cursed in a language Jake didn’t understand and stomped off to the building.

Aiden told Antonia to take Jake to the car waiting out front and to check into the hotel. They walked in silence, Antonia holding his hand in a firm grip. Jake glanced over his shoulder. Aiden stood outside the airport watching them, a blank expression on his face. When they climbed inside and the car door was closed, Jake watched out the back window, glad to see Aiden was gone.

Antonia’s face relaxed and she pulled Jake into a hug. Jake was even more scared. As hard as he tried to hide his feelings for Antonia, Aiden knew.

“Antonia,” he whispered. “Let’s run away.”

Her mouth dropped.

“We’re alone. We can do it. We can go find my mommy. She’ll take care of us.”

“Shhh!” She clasped her hand over his mouth. “If
Señor
Aiden knew what you were saying—”

Jake pulled her hand down and lowered his voice. “Aiden’s not here. He could be gone a long time. We can do it, Antonia. This is our chance.”

“Jake, you must not say this. People are listening.” She lifted her chin toward the front.

Jake looked up front. The driver’s face was in the mirror, watching them with narrowed eyes.

Jake’s body stiffened as his hatred rose, and he felt the need to hurt someone. “I can kill him.”

Antonia’s mouth dropped open as her face paled. “Jake, you cannot say such things.”

“I’ll protect you, Antonia. I won’t let Aiden hurt you.”

She pulled his head to her chest. “You are a brave boy. You have seen many things a boy your age should not see.”

She didn’t believe him.

He leaned back and stared into her eyes. He had to make her understand. “I can do it, Antonia. I can do it right now.”

Her face softened and she brushed the hair off his forehead. “I know you are able to do this, Jacob. That is not the question. We are given many gifts in this world, but we must learn how to use them. You have much too much responsibility for a boy your age. You are asked to do things no one should do.” A tear fell down her cheek. “I met your mother, even if only for a few moments, and I know that she loves you very much. I promised her that I would take care of you and that means that I must take care of you
in all things
. I cannot let you do this.”

“But…”

“If we try to leave now,
Señor
Aiden
will
find us and he will hurt you. We must stay for now.”

She was right, but he didn’t have to like it.

Aiden wasn’t back by dinner time, and Jake was grateful. He and Antonia ordered room service and ate in the hotel suite while he watched TV.

Jake was almost done eating when Aiden walked in the door, grinning. “You did very well today, Jake.”

Jake didn’t want to listen to Aiden gloat. He faked a yawn. “I’m tired. Can I go to bed?”

“Of course. You have another big day tomorrow.”

Jake’s stomach twisted into a pretzel. He stood and Antonia pushed him into one of the bedrooms. Shutting the door, she crossed herself and muttered something in Spanish as she unpacked his pajamas. She read him stories even though she knew he could read to himself. Her shaky hands jiggled the book. He didn’t care that she treated him like a baby. It triggered fuzzy memories of Mommy. Before all the bad things happened.

When she finished, she cradled him in her arms and sang to him in Spanish as she brushed his hair with her fingers with one hand, the rosary beads clinking in her other.

He closed his eyes and pretended it was Mommy even though Antonia’s lap was softer and she smelled different. Was Aiden tricking him? Would he let Jake be with Mommy again? Jake didn’t trust Aiden. He needed to figure out how to get Mommy back on his own.

He knew how to make it happen.

Antonia sat in a chair next to the bed as she waited for him to fall asleep. He made his breath slow and steady and lay still even though he felt twitchy. He thought of his stuffed dog Rusty and how he’d make Aiden pay for burning him up. He’d make Aiden pay for a lot of things. And Raphael too.

And Will.

But he couldn’t think about Will right now, because the good memories of him flooded Jake’s mind and he needed the bad ones. He counted on the ugly ones to do what he needed to do later. He didn’t want to kill Will, but he had to. It wasn’t his fault. It was Aiden’s.

He was back where he started.

After several minutes Jake’s legs grew stiff from holding still so long, Antonia finally seemed satisfied he was asleep and left after placing a kiss on his forehead. When he was sure she was really gone, he sat up and ran to the door, locking it. He threw open the heavy curtains covering the window, then returned to his bed, sitting cross-legged in the middle. His bandage was still on his arm and he was surprised Antonia hadn’t insisted on checking it again, but Antonia had been nervous and shaky since they left Little Rock. When Jake read her thoughts and sifted through the Spanish, he realized that Antonia knew that Aiden and Raphael had destroyed Little Rock, but she was unsure about Jake’s involvement. She prayed Jake would be delivered from the
demonio
and his sweet soul would remain uncorrupted.

It was too late for that.

Stripping off his shirt, Jake stared at the mark on his chest, two black outlined, intersecting, sideways circles barely visible by the light coming through the window.

He smiled. He had a mark like Will.

His smile fell just as quickly. Will was one of the reasons he needed the mark.

The shadows on the wall didn’t move. Since the shadow figure had marked him, they’d been quiet and still. Jake worried that they had forgotten him, then he remembered that the figure said he was supposed to call them.

“Shadows, move.”

They started slowly, creeping around the room, then swirled faster and faster until they became a blur of motion. Jake covered his mouth and giggled with happiness. They hadn’t forgotten him.

“Stop.”

They instantly halted their movement, as though waiting for his next command. Moving shadows were a cool trick, but how would that help him get his mommy?

A shadow crept toward him and he heard a voice in his head. “We can do more
…”

He was counting on that, but what more could they do?

“Watch.”

The shadow moved across the floor and up to the window ledge. A bird sat outside the glass, snapping up an insect on the bricks.

Jake stood and moved closer to the window, careful not to startle the creature.

Fingers of gray reached toward the bird until shadows covered the animal’s foot. The bird flapped its wings in a frenzy but remained on the ledge. Then it stopped moving and fell on its side.

Gasping, Jake ran to the window and cranked it open, expecting the bird to fly away. Instead it lay unmoving as he reached through and touched the bird with his finger, surprised by the icicles clinging to its feathers. That was impossible. The sun had set, but it was still hot outside.

When the shadow figure had given him the mark, it had felt cold. The shadow killed the bird with its coldness. Could it kill people too?

Could it kill elements?

Chapter Twelve