The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (46 page)

“
That’s clever mate!”
Michael called as the mound of red rock soared effortlessly through
the air. He wanted to make one more remark before the boulder made
impact. But by the time the words came to mind, it had grown so
close that Jacob had been eclipsed behind it. A million thoughts
swirled around in Michael’s mind. Not once had he ever wondered how
he would avoid being hit by an enormous boulder. He wasn’t sure if
he should jump over it, swat at it or even catch it and lob it back
at Jacob. But as the boulder continued to sail, Michael finally
raised his foot up and an explosion of rock blew apart on
impact.

Michael was a supernatural, but that didn’t
mean he was resistant to pain. If anything the sensation of kicking
the boulder sprang all the way up his leg and for a moment he
thought he had shattered his toes. A howl of pain painted the air
as pieces of broken rock rained down upon him. The bottom of his
foot felt as if it had been completely shattered and he glanced
down at his dirty shoes to see if any blood had escaped from his
skin. To his relief, everything looked fine. But before he could
think about anything else, Jacob’s fist landed an uppercut straight
to the jaw.

As Michael flew up in the air, the sound of
Lotus’s terrified scream made its way to his ears over the rush of
cold air. Once he had reached the highest point of rise, gravity
began to pull him back down almost as quickly as he had been
launched up. Michael wasn’t sure why his eyes were closed. Over the
pain throbbing in his leg and now the possibly fractured jaw, he
couldn’t will himself to see how much more of a decent there would
be before he made impact with the ground.

He had to do something, and when in doubt,
teleport out. Jacob watched as Michael fell to the rocky dirt, but
the millisecond before impact, he vanished. Michael could be
anywhere now and Jacob immediately turned over his shoulder in case
there was an attack from behind. Sure enough, Michael had appeared
behind him, but far enough so that there would be pliantly of time
to react if either of them were to make the next move.

“
What are you doing over
there Highness?” Jacob called over the vast stretch of
plateau.

Red dirt swirled in the breeze as Michael
looked up at his opponent. From the distance, Jacob looked as if he
were the size of a bar of soap, but it didn’t take much to see that
he was walking toward Michael with confidence.

“
Michael!” this time it was
Lotus’s voice and he turned to see that she was closer to him than
Jacob. “Michael are you alright?” she called. Michael wasn’t sure
if it was the wind making her voice shiver, but for the first time
in his recollection, she seemed genuinely worried about
him.

“
I’ve never felt more
alive!” he called back. By the time he had turned back to Jacob, he
had grown to the size of a painting in the distance.

Lotus had called something back, but Michael
wasn’t paying any attention. He knew he needed time to heal if he
wanted the odds of winning to be more in his favor. He was the King
after all. How could he possibly tarnish his reputation by losing
to a half-natural? It was wrong for him to have even let the match
last this long. If anything, he should just end it right then and
there. The tenderness in his foot still existed even if his jaw had
subsided to a sting. He hadn’t noticed how torn up his knee cap had
been until he realized that his body had made it brand new again.
Realizing the rejuvenation in his own flesh, he wasn’t sure if
Jacob could do the same.

“
How fast do you heal mate?”
Michael asked as Jacob stopped a mere ten feet away from
him.

Jacob smirked as if the question was an
invitation. “Find out for yourself, Highness.”

Michael scoffed, “Well I don’t want to kill
you. I could take you up in the sky and let you fall to your death.
But I don’t want more blood on my hands.”

Jacob shrugged carelessly. “You’re more than
welcome to try that.”

“
Blyme!” gasped Michael,
“Have you got yourself a death wish? I’m not doing
that.”

“
Then you just might lose.”
Jacob said below his breath then he charged.

Though Michael only meant to have a
conversation so he could buy time to heal, his leg still felt too
broken to work with. As Jacob approached with a fist ready, Michael
though of the only other way to end the match. It might have been
because Michael was a bit more prepared for this strike, but he
felt himself move swifter. Things seemed to be in slow motion
mainly because Michael knew he was going to end the game and he
knew how he was going to do it. With one hand, Michael grabbed onto
Jacob’s raised fist, with the other, Michael grabbed a hold of the
loops of Jacob’s jeans. The edge nearest where they stood was just
behind them. In other words, while launching the punch, Jacob was
headed directly towards it.

With Jacob rushing, there still wouldn’t have
been enough momentum to launch him over. In a split second, Michael
realized this. That was why he grabbed onto Jacob’s clothing. In
the time it took Jacob to realize Michael had a hand around his
closed fist, Michael was already spinning on the spot with Jacob in
his grasp. A complete 360 was all the energy he needed to send his
foe sailing once more over the ledge.

Michael watched as Jacob vanished over the
ledge with so much air around him that there was no way he could
grab onto the plateau’s cliff walls to stop his fall. All the
action had taken place in front of Lotus she felt as if she could
reach out and touch them both. Even as she witnessed Jacob plunging
toward the ground, she felt as if she could reach out and stop him.
But instead her hands went to her mouth to stifle a horrified
scream. From several feet below, the members of the BOA watched as
their only half natural sailed toward the ground with nothing to
stop him. All eyes were on Jacob’s weightless body.

Everyone was so preoccupied with watching a
man fall to his death that they had completely forgotten about
Michael until he appeared at the base of the plateau with his arms
outstretched and his gaze following Jacob to the ground. His timing
could not have been more perfect. Only a second after he appeared
did Jacob land in his arms as if Michael were cradling a baby.

A sigh of relief swept through Lotus. Of
course Michael wouldn’t just let a man fall to his death, right?
The idea of Michael being a hero had just appeared into Lotus’s
mind when Michael found a way to prove her wrong. Suddenly, Michael
was swinging Jacob around like a lasso by one of his ankles. But
instead of releasing him so that he flew through the air to land
closer to the BOA, Michael slammed the body down on the ground as
hard as he could. Even from where she stood, Lotus could hear the
rocks crumble beneath Jacob’s clearly wounded body.

“
Well that was fun wasn’t
it?” Michael asked squatting down beside Jacob to brush some dirt
from his face. “Right, so that makes me the winner. It was nice
playing with you, maybe I’ll see you around?”

Jacob moaned and blinked as he gazed back up
at Michael with a dazed expression. He coughed and groaned as if he
was about to say something but Michael didn’t stay to find out.

“
I might find your little
gang a bit more intimidating if you had some stronger members.”
Michael called to Trench as he exchanged nervous glances to Tristan
at his side. “Let’s make that a priority for you. I hope you’ll be
stronger when we meet again lads.” Mercilessly, the King turned on
the spot and vanished.

When he reappeared, his arms were around
Lotus and she shrieked with surprise.

“
Come on love,” Michael said
into her ear, “let’s take you back home.”

Before Lotus could say anything more, her
world was spinning. The red sand that had once stretched out as far
as she could see was replaced with deep blue ocean and a pale blue
swimming pool. They were back at the Stelter penthouse and standing
at the ledge of the patio so that nearly every tower’s rooftop was
illuminated by the sun.

“
I cannot believe you took
me to see that!” Lotus wailed pulling away from him as fast as she
could. “I thought you were going to let him
die
!”

“
Well, I didn’t.” Michael
replied sharply.

“
Oh, because you think
slamming him into the ground is a way of justifying falling to your
death?” spat Lotus. “I cannot believe you!”

“
Lozey, I don’t see why that
bothered you!” Michael objected. “I told you where I was going. I
told you I was the King- What did you expect? Sunshine and
dasies?”

Lotus wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She
had forgotten how scary the underground was until she saw the BOA
up close. Even then, what had truly terrified her was Michael.

“
Look,” Lotus began cooling
herself before she became too heated, “I appreciate the fact that
you are being honest with me now… but Caster, I don’t like that
life style. I was so uncomfortable the entire time I was there.
Then you made me watch a man fall off a ledge. I don’t care that
you caught him. That image is still going to be stuck in my mind.
Just… the next time you do anything street related, leave me out of
it.”

Michael gazed at her for a long moment with a
half opened mouth. She was sure he needed to say something but at
the same time, he knew she was right. Just because he told her the
truth about who he was, didn’t mean that he had to drag her into
his world too.

“
Michael,” she began again.
“This isn’t going to work. We can’t be more than friends. I’m
sorry.”

Michael’s expression hadn’t changed. His eyes
slid to the space on the ground separating their feet. He had
thought that being real and honest would be a way of bringing her
back into his life. In reality, it did the exact opposite. She was
farther away from him now more than ever.

“
I think you should go,”
Lotus remarked when he said nothing. “I need to check on my
sister.”

Again Michael said nothing but slowly he
turned and when Lotus looked up, he was gone.

Chapter 12 The Stelter Fire

~The day before had drained Ace so much that
he slept in even though the Heleow sun had risen to near noon.
Normally when the sun came up, so did he and even the faintest
knock on a door was enough to make him stir. But in that late
morning he awoke for the first time with bright light streaming in
from the window and slender fingers raking through his hair. The
moment he realized he was not alone, Ace bolted upright and glanced
at the person beside him.

Lee’s wide emerald eyes gazed at him from her
seat on the corner of his bed. Her eyes were tired and worn out but
a faint smile managed to creep on her thin lips. “Babe,” she cooed
reaching for him and wrapping her slender arms around his
shoulders. “I’ve missed you.”

Ace said nothing. He hadn’t seen her since
they last fought, and for her that might have felt like an eternity
ago. He set his hand on her back and felt the familiarity of fabric
over her shoulder blades. “I missed you too,” he finally murmured
before giving her a light peck above the brow.

At his kiss, Lee pulled back just enough the
stare up at him. She could see her sad reflection in his weary
sapphire eyes and it would only be a moment before he asked her
what was wrong.

His free hand slid up to her cheek and he
stroked the softest part just over her cheekbone with the pad of
his thumb. “Angel you look unhappy.” he noted softly.

Lee inhaled deeply before nodding. “I am
unhappy.”

In that moment, the previous night’s memories
came spiraling back into Ace’s mind. Had she seen what Ithaca had
done? Lee would think he was cheating on her. Now was the time to
explain before things began to spin out of control. “Lee it have to
tell you-”

“
Shhh…” Lee cut him off
instead. “You don’t have to tell me anything.” She assured him as
she brought her hands around to cup his jaw. She held eyes with him
for a long moment and with each lingering second, her eyes seemed
to fall deeper into sorrow. When she spoke up again her voice was
on the brink of tears. “I just… I just need you to show that you
love me, okay? Please Ace?” then she leaned into his chest as a
tear stained his shirt.

Ace had seen her cry many times and had
always known what triggered the tears. But this time he was utterly
confused. “What’s wrong?” he asked petting her thin silvery hair.
“Is this about last night with-”

Again Lee cut him off, “The fight?” she
filled in. “I forgive you and I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight with
you anymore. I just need you to make me happy Ace. I need you to
love me.”

“
I do love you Lee!” he
exclaimed leaning back so they could hold eyes for another moment.
“Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll make it better. Lee, I love
you.”

Lee sniffed though no tears decorated her
face. Only the rims around her nose and eyes were puffy and pink.
“We haven’t done anything in a while.” She finally confessed.

The last time they had gone on a date, a
random journalist had taken a snapshot of them kissing in the sand
and Lee had been left with a nasty sunburn. But she looked fine now
aside from the sad face. Ace wanted to remind her that their walk
on Sunset Beach wasn’t even a week ago, but considering all that
had happened, it seemed like it had been a long while.

Ace nodded. “Okay, I’ll take you out.” He
said sliding his hand from her face to her fingers. “Right now.
We’ll go wherever you want to go. Let’s have breakfast. I’m
starving!” he climbed to his feet and meant to pull Lee along with
him, but she remained seated next to his pillow. When he turned
around, her gloomy green eyes continued to hang.