by K Fisher
“We have company,” Tucker's low voice spoke from the hallway. “Grab Hazel, we need to get out of here, and fast.”
“I can’t just remove her from the house, what if that keeps her trapped in the spirit realm? What do you see?”
Tucker’s response was a frustrated grunt, his eyes glowing an emerald green with power as he cracked his knuckles and popped his head into the doorway. “Looks like a few of Danira’s goonies, she’s really pulling out the big guns today. Our buddy Nico is out on the lawn, too.” He pointed to the window by Hazel’s head. “Check and see if they’re out that way too. I want to know how many we are dealing with.”
Caden peered out the window, hauling Hazel from the chair and onto his lap as he did so. “Nothing over on this side. Tell me what I need to do.”
“Turn the alarms back on this house so it alerts the police there’s been a break in. At this point, they are far more welcome than Freako Nico and the contracted slaves. Try to shake Hazel out of it while you’re at it. I’m going to buy us a bit of time and try to keep them out. As soon as she’s back, we get the hell out of here.” He appeared to want to say more, his eyes on Caden’s as they shared unsaid words.
They could leave Hazel right there and escape themselves, they owed her no allegiance or promise to keep her safe when their own lives were at risk.
Instead, Caden nodded once more and kept Hazel close, hunkering down and focusing on calling his Affinity to the surface. His hand reached for his phone, grasping it close as he flowed through the connection, eyes closing. They had a mission at hand and neither of them were willing to leave anyone behind, especially when they needed all hands on deck to save Faye from Danira’s grasp.
Outside the door, Tucker was running as fast as he could, lumbering down the staircase and towards the front foyer of the house. As he descended, his eyes caught sight of Nico crossing the gardens near a window along the front of the house, another shadow dancing through sunlight as a body approached the broken front door before him.
On the few occasions Tucker and the group had run into Danira in the past, they had been honored with the presence of one or more of her slaves. Affinities that had pledged their loyalty to her in exchange for something. The life of a loved one, justice, revenge, whatever the case, she had a way of snagging onto the weak before they could be helped. They were only shells of what they once were, zombies under her command as they protected their Maven. That being said, Tucker knew what to expect and had no issue disposing of the Affinities that attacked him.
Besides, they were already as good as dead. Danira never left alive, no matter what lies she whispered in their ears before they gave her the blood pact ensuring their fates.
Tucker focused on his Affinity, his power surging through his body as his fists began to glow a soft green. But it didn’t stop there, it spread up through his arms as it consumed him. A long, jagged construction of power began to grow from the end of each of his clenched fists, continuing until they were over two feet in length.
The first person stepped through the doorway just as the home’s alarms sounded. Her glowing yellow eyes were catlike, focused on him as she took a slinking step forward. “The woman named Hazel, if you please,” she said briskly, eyes manic as they searched the area behind Tucker.
The windows alongside the house broke, two objects rolling to the floor. Tucker watched them, catching the flamed tails before they registered and he turned to the staircase once again. The young woman was following him even as the flames erupted along the floor of the house behind her, jumping forward when he reached the middle of the staircase. Her hands clung onto Tucker’s back, clawing as she tried to grasp onto his throat.
In one swift motion, Tucker extended one weaponed hand to the side and tucked his other under his body, turning on his side as her body pushed him against the stairs. Twisting under her, the small woman was now straddling his body, her long blonde hair messy and wild as her yellow eyes focused on him. There was a shimmering essence around them, one that slowly shrank as she struggled to get the upper hand. It pressed down through her, but did not give Tucker the same courtesy. Instead it started pressing him harder against the ground like a force field, grinding his head against the hard, wooden steps as he yelled out in pain.
Before the power could demolish his body, Tucker struck up with both hands, the sharp edges of his battle-ready Affinity plunging into the sides of the woman trying to kill him. She gasped out and dropped her hands, looking down at the glowing green swords embedded in her sides. Blood spilled along the staircase, as silver and shining as the powerful shackles on her wrists and neck, Danira’s trademark.
Shoving the dying woman away from him, Tucker was released from the powerful field that pinned him. Regaining his balance, he whipped his hands to the side, her blood splattering free of his weapons before he ascended above, voice tearing out through the house. “Tell her she can fucking wake up now, Caden!”
Below Tucker, Nico’s voice sounded up the stairs after him, the smoke from the building fire billowing upward around Tucker’s legs as the flames started to become uncontrollable.
“Better get out fast, Tucker. Faye would be terribly upset if you burned.”
Chapter Twenty
Caden was already at the window with Hazel by the time Tucker made it into the reading room once again, the small metal device he normally hid buzzed around outside, searching the area for anyone who had run there to attack them. Through the device, Caden was not only watching what occurred below and to the front of the house, but everywhere the small thing could roam, just in case someone was hiding. The window was open and he was holding Hazel’s head outside as the smoke started to rise to the upper levels of the house.
“I take it things went well?” Caden inquired, eyebrows raised as he peered over at the blood adorning the two shining swords Tucker had protruding from the ends of his fists.
He was breathing heavily when he approached Caden and Hazel, focusing as the two weapons slowly slid back into his body, the glow slowly disappearing until there was none remaining. Aside from the blood splattered across the front of his shirt, it was as though nothing had occurred downstairs. “We are going to jump out the window, hold onto her tightly.”
“Ah, I see broken legs are in the equation.”
“Caden, since when have I ever sent you home in a cast or anything more than a two day heal, ever? Can you please throw me a bone before Nico decides he wants to run around the back and make this even more difficult for us? Has Hedwig found anything?” Tucker pleaded, closing the door behind him.
“Its name is not Hedwig, and it looks like no one is coming around to this side.”
He wasn’t sure just how much fire Nico was pumping into the house down below, but his hand was warm from the bronze doorknob and he was certain the smoke would knock them out in a matter of minutes if it was already heating things up to that degree.
Tucker raced towards the window, observing the two floor drop to the grass below. It was something he would heal from, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt a little bit. Why, oh why had he been teamed with people who didn’t have any idea how to fight as well as he did? Leaning down in front of the unconscious Hazel, he knew they only had a very limited time to get the hell out of the burning house.
He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a rough shake in Caden’s arms. When Hazel didn’t move, he swung his hand through the air, making contact with her cheek hard with the slap. Caden’s mouth fell agape, a string of curses thrown at Tucker as he struggled to make sense of the violent outburst.
Tucker put up a finger, stopping Caden as he focused on Hazel. Her eyes snapped open, narrowing in on him as she grimaced and rose one hand to her cheek. “Did you seriously just hit me?”
“Yeah, it’s time to go, your childhood home is going to burn to the ground and I don’t think we need to go down with the ship.”
“Good thinking, let’s go,” Hazel agreed, swallowing
down the pain from the slap as she observed the smoke billowing into the room from under the door. There was no time to mourn the loss of her memories.
Tucker propped himself up on the window, sitting with his back to the open air as he extended his hands towards them. “Come with me if you want to live,” he forced out the accent, giving them both a toothy grin.
Caden murmured something under his breath, keeping Hazel close as he grabbed onto Tucker. Hazel had half a mind to start telling them both to break down the situation for her, but it seemed there was no time for chit chat. For what felt like the hundredth time, Hazel was falling down towards the ground at a rapid rate. But, instead of crumpling into a heap atop Aiden, she was brought to a safe halt right before hitting the grass.
Tucker grunted, his knees buckling as Caden’s large frame and Hazel’s body spilled onto the grass before him, unable to hold them any longer after the landing. He was like a superhero and Hazel could not wrap her mind around his strength and abilities, all too aware of how much she had to learn about her own, no matter the strides she had made.
Aiden!
He was going to cease to exist if his home was no longer, right? Or would he still be trapped to the earth? Hazel was not running toward the street with Tucker and Caden, instead she was dragging herself to her feet and making her way slowly to the house. Peering up at the window like she had as a child, she half expected to see him standing in the window where flames now licked. In the distance, the sound of a fire truck started to echo.
Caden realized she was not following, he turned and went back to retrieve her before any of them were seen on the premises, Hedwig buzzing in the air as it returned to its owner quickly from the front of the burning home. Thankfully, Hazel had already snapped out of it and turned to run away, unable to look at her old home burning to the ground in front of her.
There was the sound of feet pounding on the ground following close behind Hazel, when she looked over her shoulder she was met with Nico’s intense glare as he propelled his body across the front of the house to reach her. Caden looked like he was going to turn around and try to fight him off, but Hazel knew his Affinity could not possibly allow for a real chance against Danira’s hunter.
What about her? If she was powerful enough to unite the two realms and be who Danira hunted above all others, she had to be able to take down the man Danira hid behind. Or at least be able to buy herself some time for Tucker to come back and help, but at the rate Nico was running, there was no way she’d be able to escape before he caught up to her.
Stopping in her tracks, Hazel turned on her heel and took a deep breath in through her nose, allowing it to drift out her mouth before she repeated her mantra. “Cool, calm, collected,” she whispered, trying not to be affected by the look of triumph on Nico’s face when he saw she had given up their race.
When the last word left Hazel’s mouth, she extended both her hands towards Nico’s running body, the silver mist of her power surrounded her hands, extending to fill the space between the two of them. Instead of being used to attack Nico, it spread like wildfire and created a storm of motion, spinning in a tight circle. The circle started to shine and reflect a completely different scene before Hazel, like a mirror to the realm she had just escaped from.
One foot stepped out of the spinning circle of power, stopping Nico in his tracks. When Aiden fully exited the portal it stopped spinning, becoming smaller and smaller until there was no trace of Hazel’s Affinity any longer.
Aiden dusted off his suit, eyeing Nico’s frozen body just a few feet away. “Are we going to have a fight again, kid? You better run back to my sister before I beat you to a bloody pulp for destroying our home.”
Nico took one slow step towards Aiden but stopped himself, eyeing Caden and Tucker as they came alongside Hazel to face him. Behind them all, the fire truck had pulled up in front of the house, followed by a police car. They all came to the same conclusion at once, time to run. Nico’s Affinity consumed him as he disappeared from the garden. Tucker, Caden, Hazel, and Aiden were next to get out of there as fast as they could. But where there had been fields and trees in the years past, apartments and houses now surrounded the area around the burning house, the residents spilling out into the streets as they observed the fire and the strangers running from the scene.
“We are completely fucked,” the words were from Tucker as he led them through back streets and towards the main road. But there did not appear to be anyone following the group, the onlookers completely useless as they tried to make sense of the sudden commotion that had disrupted their otherwise quiet night. It was clear running was hurting Tucker after the jump with each struggled limp, but he still raced on, the only further indication of his pain the subtle twitch of his mouth each time his foot hit the pavement.
“This way,” Hazel barked out, taking a sharp left as she led them down a dimly lit street, in the distance, she could hear police sirens starting down the back roads in the direction they had come from. The group followed her, all stopping at once when she reached another alleyway. Already the night sky was plunging the town into shadows and it would possibly work in their favor.
They remained unmoving in the alley, hunched near several large recycling containers. Aiden fell into line behind Hazel, his presence a buzzing energy that prickled along her skin, igniting when he rested his hands on her shoulders and took a step forward. She was enveloped in his warmth and did nothing to move away from it. As they all caught their breath, she was aware of how relaxed he remained behind her, leaning down until he was right near her ear. The deep rumble of his voice urged an arousal she was not proud of, but she no longer cared about pride.
“Do you hurt, Hazel?”
His large, hands, hands she remembered dancing along the keys of his old piano, slowly squeezed her shoulders, the tension lifted from her body as she opened her mouth to answer. But before she had a chance to, both Caden and Tucker chose that exact moment to address the elephant in the alley.
“So is this the brother? Does this make him alive again?” Caden inquired. Their questions were harmless enough, and ones they all deserved answers to, but their body language said much more. Both men were ready for a fight and did not trust the stranger with his hands on their new friend.
Aiden gave Hazel’s shoulders one last squeeze before he ceased the massaging, his large body quickly moving around her until he stood in front of her. Yet again, he was placing himself in front of the potential of danger to keep her safe, a common theme she was questioning more and more with each passing moment. Still, looking up at the back of his neck, she found herself wanting to raise a hand and run it through the back of his hair, to feel his talented hands on her body as they trailed up to her neck.
What the hell was wrong with her? They were on the run from both an evil woman who burned down her home and stole their friend, and the police who were surely being given their descriptions after racing from the scene, and there she was thinking of having sex with her Guardian.
“I am Aiden Lacko, Affinity for death. I was brought back by Hazel and I am in her debt, I will do whatever I can to find my sister and return your friend, but above all, I will ensure Danira does not get her hands on Hazel or her Affinity. This does not stop at Danira, it includes anyone who tries to stand in the way of what I have promised.”
Caden and Tucker looked at each other, both straightening as they both observed him. Tuckers arms raised, crossing at his chest as he abandoned the fight, the movement enough for Caden to follow behind. Neither said a word as they turned away from Aiden, not deeming him a threat to the situation at hand.
On the other side of the alley they smelled cigarette smoke and heard the deep base of music. What was once an empty town now had a small stretch of night life, and they were in the middle of it. Caden took a step towards the recycling container, hand stretching out to touch the wall that separated them from the Holiday Inn. The white glow of his Affinity spread down his arms and into the wall w
hile he stood still.
While they waited for his power to return with a plan, Aiden slowly turned to face Hazel in the dim alley, his crystal eyes illuminated by the dusty, golden glow of a street light at the end of the line of buildings. “I asked if you were hurt,” he repeated.
“I need some sleep, food, and to wash off the blood, but I’m not beyond repair, no,” Hazel responded, the words feeling so far away from her body as she looked into the face of the real, and very much alive Aiden. “So your power is death?”
“It comes back in waves, and I am able to feel it when it’s here. For now, that’s all I know. But I have not been outside in a century.” He looked up to the night sky, face unreadable as she took in the sight of him silently enjoying the soft gust of wind, unable to imagine what it would be like if she was stripped of her freedom like that.
He was looking at her again, taking a step closer to her until his suit jacket brushed against the front of her shirt and the beating of her heart started drowning out her logic and reason. “I have you to thank for this, Hazel, and although I would have done anything to keep you from releasing me and engaging further in the spirit realm, I now know it’s too late. I’ll not waste a moment not showing you just how thankful I am.”
Hazel was not certain if it was in her exhausted and fuzzy mind, but she could have sworn there was a dangerous glint in his eyes, a promise of a great many things to come. Thankfully, Caden’s voice broke through their discussion and drew their attention away from each other.
“There’s several empty rooms just around the corner, I can get them to unlock for us. We have been checked in and paid for under different names. We’ll have to do without clean clothing for the night, but after some rest we should be able to tackle what we need to take care of in the morning.”