Runaway Mortal (17 page)

Loire raised an eyebrow in question. “I have no idea what you mean.” We were back to square one again. He knew exactly what I meant. “Have you been dreaming about me a little too much lately?”

“Between us,” I elaborated, feeling so frustrated that I wanted to kick him. “You go around and act like there’s nothing going on when it’s pretty obvious there is.”

“Nothing happened between us.” He moved away from me, creating distance between us. “And nothing ever will.”

His words stung, and I tried to keep bitter tears from my eyes. I focused on my breathing instead. I had to keep on breathing. I shouldn’t let this get to me so much. He was just a stupid guy. Why was this suddenly so important?

“Why?” I managed to ask.

“Because there’s nothing there.” His fists were balled up at his sides with tension.

“I don’t believe you.”

His eyes flashed angrily and he looked like he wanted to punch something. “Katerina, let me say this once, and once only. I do
not
have feelings for you. I am your guard and that’s all there is between us. I can’t have feelings for you.” His voice faltered a little.

“Who are you trying to convince? You or me?” I asked, a smile creeping onto my lips as I sensed his uncertainty. “Because you really don’t sound too sure.”

“I am sure,” he said, his mouth forming a tight line. “And you should be sure, too. Things like this can’t happen between a SRECON agent and his client. It’s irresponsible and-”

This time I cut him off, taking a step towards him to fill the distance he’d created. I tilted my head to the side, trying very hard to ignore his drenched upper body and the droplets of water running down his arms. “If there’s nothing between us then answer me this. Why have you been avoiding me since prom?”

The resolve in his demeanor crumbled a little and he hesitated, no doubt trying to come up with a believable response to my question. Finally, he gave a small shrug and looked away. “You’re reading too much into it.”

I couldn’t help but scoff. “That’s the best you can come up with? You really couldn’t do better than that?”

His nostrils flared in irritation and he jabbed me in the arm sharply. “Look, you don’t-” He stopped and looked down at where his hand touched my arm.

A nervous sensation started in the pit of my stomach and a tingling spread through me from the point of contact Loire had made. He took a sharp intake of breath and wrapped his hand around my arm, pulling me towards him. Without any hesitation, I planted my hands on his chest and then moved them up and around his neck.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe I wanted this to happen, but every part of my body wanted this. And I was finally admitting it. I wanted him to like me.
Really
like me.

Loire lowered his head and rested it on my shoulder before nuzzling his nose against the side of my neck. His warm breath tickled my skin, and my stomach writhed in anticipation as I waited for him to kiss me.

My eyes were half-closed, my breathing shallow, when Loire’s grip slackened and he let go of me. “Kat,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t.” The words seemed to pain him.

Hurt tore through me at his rejection, and I shut my eyes, wanting to shut out his words too. I felt him move away from me and heard the crunch of his footsteps on the ground draw further away.

When I opened my eyes, he was gone.

Chapter Seventeen

Several days passed—I became that girl who ate a lot of ice cream as she pined over the guy she couldn’t have. I didn’t break out of my mood until almost a week later when the message tone of my phone went off.

I found something! I’m in the library.

It was probably the best text message I’d ever received from Anna. I hurried to meet her, wondering what she’d managed to find in one of the many books she’d perused.

I found Anna and Greggy tucked away in their usual back corner in the library, surrounded by a copious amount of books. I sure was glad that Anna liked to read because there was no way in hell I was getting anywhere near those things.

“Hey, you two,” I said, sliding across from them at the table.

Greggy nodded at me in response and went back to reading one of the books. Anna gave me a tired smile, but I could also see the excitement in her eyes. “So, we found something.”

“We? You told Greggy?” I asked.

Anna’s face flushed dark pink with guilt. “I’m sorry, Kat. I know I shouldn’t have, but Greggy is really good at this. We’ve gone through a lot of books together.”

I didn’t bother getting mad about it. It wasn’t like Greggy was a stranger.

“Okay, so what did you find?” I asked, cutting to the chase.

Anna pushed an open book towards me and pointed to something halfway down the page. The writing was so tiny and faded that I had to squint to make out the words; I had no idea how Anna spent hours reading.

A myth that has been debunked several times by Academia, tells of a triad with each of the races in it, where their abilities are enhanced through objects of old. It is alleged that when the triad is in possession of one object, it will lead them to another.

“Is that all?” I asked. For some reason, I felt incredibly let down. I’d been expecting more when I’d come here. This was literally two sentences. Anna had been searching for almost two months and this was all she’d found. It didn’t help at all.

“Don’t you see what it’s saying?” Anna asked, jabbing the page as though to make me see what she saw. “We thought there was no connection between the Legend of the Triad and a triad that SRECON is in, but clearly there is.”

I stared at the page, still confused. “How?”

“Think about
The Legend of the Triad
. It tells of three magical objects that each race can possess. Now, look at this.” Anna’s voice was rising with excitement now. “Academia is dismissing the objects as being fictitious, but we know that these objects do exist because of the prophecy. So, if you are in a triad that has an angel, a demon, and mortal in it, then the Triad objects amplify your abilities.”

“Like Loire’s triad,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes, exactly!” Anna exclaimed. “It is very unusual for an angel, a demon, and a mortal to work together so closely, so it would be impossible to know if a triad object would work like that. That’s probably why Academia dismissed it as a myth.”

“And according to this, if you have one object it should lead you to the next one,” Greggy pointed out. “So, if you find the Mortal Blade then you will find either the Angel Glass or the Demon Stone.” It was the most he’d spoken to me since I’d come back.

“And that will lead me to Melkane’s killer how?” I asked.

They both looked at each other and shrugged.

“I don’t know.” Anna chewed on her bottom lip. “But we will figure this out.”

An hour later, I walked back to my room, my mind full of all the information that Anna had just told me. I felt like we were right on the edge of discovering something huge, but weren’t quite there yet.

“Kat!” a large potted plant hissed.

I stopped and stared at the plant, balling up my fists and taking on a defensive stance. Based on the day I’d had, losing my marbles seemed appropriate.

“Yes?” I asked, glancing up and down the corridor to make sure no one saw me talking to a plant. Considering I’d been attacked by rocks, it seemed normal that I’d be conversing with plants.

There was the sound of rustling, and hazel-green eyes peered out at me as Misha stuck her head around from behind the leaves. She surveyed the corridor with narrowed eyes before stepping out from behind the plant and approaching me.

“And I thought I was the crazy one.” I reached out and pulled a leaf from her thick curls. “Why were you hiding behind a potted plant?”

“There’s a party in Sander’s room again and I’m trying to avoid Anna,” she said in a low tone. “You game?”

“Last time we went to Sander’s you know what happened.”

“That’s why I’m making sure I don’t run into Anna,” Misha said. “So, you coming or not?”

I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to figure out what to do. I was supposed to be staying out of trouble, and there was already a lot on my mind. I wanted to be alone and sort through my thoughts.

“Not tonight, Mish,” I said with an apologetic smile. “There’s a lot we have to talk about.”

“Ugh.” Misha groaned. “Let’s talk tomorrow then. I’ll see you later!”

“Okay, have fun,” I said, as I watched her walk away.

I didn’t go back to my room right away. Instead, I sat down on the wooden bench in the courtyard of Unity and just let my thoughts run wild. My head was a mess of questions and answers that I was having trouble trying to decipher.

All of a sudden, I froze. Footsteps crunched on the ground behind me and I whirled around, my fists at the ready, cursing the fact that I still wasn’t allowed to use my wakizashi outside of class.

There was no one there, but that didn’t fool me. I knew what I had heard. I dialed Anna and as soon as she answered, I practically yelled into the phone. “Help me! I’m at Unit-”

Something whizzed past me, and my heart sank at the all too familiar sound. It was the same sound I’d heard the first time I’d been attacked. Whoever it was had come back to finish the job.

Panic and dread swallowed me whole as I stepped backwards, trying to find the assailant and get an idea of where the next attack would come from.

But before I could, I was assaulted from all sides. Different sized objects hit me all over my body as I covered my face, trying to muster the courage to run. This time I knew I hadn’t imagined it. I knew for sure that the objects were rocks; some sharp and jagged, and others blunt and thick.

The pain was excruciating—the rocks found their way to the bruised parts of my body, the skin already burning from where the rocks were peeling it off.

One blow hit me hard on the back of the head and I fell on all fours onto the ground, my palms landing hard on the concrete as they broke my fall. The rocks beat down on my back, pelting down on my spine.

I cried in agony. I wanted the pain to stop. I just wanted it to go away.

“Kat!” a voice called.

I thought I was imagining it. I thought that I was losing consciousness and an imaginary savior was calling out to me. But then it called out again.

“Kat! Oh, my God!” the voice said again, more urgently. “How do we make it stop? Why won’t it stop?”

Why was the voice asking questions? They had to stop it. It was hard to think straight. Why didn’t they make it stop?

Two sets of hands clamped down on me, pushing me lower onto the ground until I was lying flat. I did what they wanted because I couldn’t think for myself. My head was turned to the side so I could see two familiar shapes to my left.

“How do we make it stop?” I recognized Anna’s voice. She cried out in pain and I realized that she was being struck by the rocks, too.

“I don’t know!” Misha yelled back. “Where’s Loire?”

“I called him. He said he was coming!” Anna shrieked as another rock hit her. “Use your powers. Maybe you can stun them!”

Misha fell silent; her expression grew serious and her hazel eyes seemed to blaze green as the air around us changed. There was a crackle, like lightning, and a shock of electricity erupted from Misha’s hands, connecting with the rocks mid-air. The air around us lit up like a fluorescent lamp, but the rocks didn’t stop—they only pelted down harder.

“It won’t work!” Misha cried desperately. “Electric powers are weaker than earth. They-” A strange look came over her face and she grasped Anna’s arm frantically. “I just thought of something, but we have to get out of here! Now!”

“How?” Anna sounded helpless. “We can’t leave with Kat like this!”

“Then teleport out! Go get help!” Misha insisted.

“No! I am not leaving you guys here!” Anna argued back.

“Then think of something!”

Anna sounded tearful. “I-I don’t know what to do. My powers are so pathetic. I wish I could do something useful with them.”

“Your powers are not useless. They’re only as useless as you make them,” I managed to croak out.

As the assault of rocks stopped for a split second, I saw Anna staring at me in surprise before setting her mouth in a firm line. I had never seen her look so determined before. She closed her eyes and the air around us hummed. Both Misha and I could feel the magic she was conjuring. It made the hairs on my arms stand straight.

“What are you doing?” Misha asked, her voice soft.

Anna didn’t respond. She was concentrating on something else. Her mind was elsewhere. Elsewhere and nowhere. She was going to teleport out and get us help. But it would be too late. Misha and I were going to die.

My body was starting to feel light and faint. Unconsciousness must have been close. I didn’t fight the sensation. There was no point.

Misha shrieked and I assumed another rock had hit her. I let my body float away, imagining that it was as light as a feather. It wouldn’t be long now. I was quickly starting to lose feeling in my legs.

Then suddenly, my whole body jerked forward and I hit the floor hard. How could I hit the ground if I was already lying on the ground?

That’s when I realized we weren’t being attacked anymore. In fact, we weren’t even outside. We were sitting in Misha’s and my room on the floor. All three of us. Together.

I stared around at the both of them in disbelief. “What happened?”

“Anna.” Misha was at a loss for words. “She teleported us out.”

“You what?” I mumbled.

Anna sounded just as surprised as I felt. “I didn’t mean to! I mean, I didn’t think I could do it, I was just hoping I could.”

“You saved us!” Misha said, suddenly lunging forward and scaring Anna half to death. She wrapped her arms around Anna’s small frame, their former fight completely forgotten. “You freaking saved us!”

Pain was coursing through me, but I was grateful that we were alive.

It was the last thing I remembered before I felt the ground meet me at incredible speed.

***

Whoever was banging on my head with a hammer really needed to stop.

I reached up to feel the side of my head, certain that a bump had formed there. When I felt nothing but hair, I realised that the throbbing in my head had nothing to do with a hammer and everything to do with rocks. Again.

Groaning, I rolled onto my side and opened my eyes. The light was blinding and I quickly shut them again, certain that I would have to squint for the rest of my life.

“You’re really feeling it this morning, aren’t you?”

The sound of Loire’s voice stunned me, and my eyes flew open, the light making my head spin. He was sitting on the desk chair, studying me quite seriously.

“I feel like I did twenty shots of tequila last night,” I groaned. “My head is killing me.”

“Healer Junas came by and fixed you and your friends. You should be fine to move around.” He stood up and stretched his legs. “Do you want something to drink? Water? Coffee? Some hard liquor?”

I shot him my best death glare. “You’re so funny.”

“Water it is,” Loire said with a chuckle, handing me a glass of water that sat on the desk before resuming his seat.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, making sure the shirt someone had put me in didn’t ride up in the wrong places. “Are Anna and Misha okay?”

Looking up, I noticed Loire’s eyes were on me. My skin flushed and I put the glass down, wringing my hands as a nervous flutter erupted in the pit of my stomach. We hadn’t exactly been nice to each other the last time we’d seen each other.

“They’re fine. They were healed too, but their injuries weren’t serious. They’re actually in class right now.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Thanks for being here for me.”

A sad smile appeared on Loire’s face, and he ran a hand through his dark hair. His shirt rode up revealing a sliver of his tan, ripped chest, and the butterflies in my stomach intensified.

“You really enjoy getting yourself into trouble, don’t you?” He was trying to act like his usual cocky self again, but I could tell he was covering up how he really felt. He had been worried about me.

I ignored his comment and smoothed down my hair so it didn’t resemble a bird’s nest. “About the other day.” My voice trailed off as I struggled to find the right words. “I didn’t mean to push you. I know how important being SRECON is and I don’t want you getting into any sort of trouble.”