by H G Lynch
The professor glanced down at Reid’s fingers laced with hers and frowned. “I see. Well, we’d be honoured to have you join our university, should you decide this is where you want to be. Now, if you don’t mind, I have papers to mark.” And he took off, striding down the corridor on extremely long legs. He turned the corner and was gone faster than Ember would have thought possible.
Huh.
Then she turned to Reid and scowled. “You enjoyed that didn’t you?” she accused.
His eyebrows went up. “Enjoyed what?” he asked innocently.
“You know what. All I had to say was, ‘Yes, I’m seventeen’, but you thought it’d be more fun to act like I was your little sister or something.” She glared at him.
He chuckled. “I really don’t think he got the impression we were siblings. Unless I misunderstood that disapproving glance he shot me. And also, if you were my little sister, would I do this?” He grinned, and lifted her off the floor to kiss her, a little more intensely than was called for. He put her down and she tried to look sulky.
“The lifting part, maybe.” She tossed her hair and stalked away, knowing everyone else was laughing behind her.
“Okay, so, that was a waste of time. Now what?” Sherry shivered as they all stepped outside again.
“I wouldn’t say it was a complete waste of time—” Ember started.
Sherry cut her off, grinning, “I didn’t say it was a complete waste of time. I just said it was a waste of time.” She smirked.
Ember stuck her tongue out at her and carried on, “At least we eliminated a couple of possibilities. And, we didn’t get attacked by anyone. I think that counts as at least half a success.”
“Maybe a quarter of one. Or, a sixth,” Reid added, clearly disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to kick anyone’s ass.
But, of course, as per their usual luck, they’d spoken too soon. No sooner had they turned the corner of the end of the building that someone jumped out of the shadows, wielding a knife.
The knife flashed silver, and for a stunned, horrible second, Ember was transported back into her dream, watching the deadly blade plunge into Reid’s chest as he lay lifelessly on the ground beneath the trees.
Her breath stuck in her throat, and her muscles froze up, locking her in place. All she could do was stand and stare with wide eyes at the knife-wielding maniac as he stalked forward. His features were blurred to Ember’s stinging eyes, only increasing the resemblance to the faceless man in her nightmare. Voices were raised around her, and the boy with knife was close enough to grab her now. And then…suddenly he wasn’t.
The boy —just a boy, she realised now, blinking herself back to reality — was flung across the parking lot, and hit the stone wall of another building. There was a nasty thump as he slid to the ground and stayed there, groaning in pain. The knife was gone, the blade lying half-way across the parking lot, glinting in the watery sunlight, and the hilt was a chipped chunk of wood on the ground at Ember’s feet. She looked up and saw Reid staring at her like he’d never seen her before. She guessed he was the one who’d thrown the boy fifty feet across the wet, snowy parking lot. She glanced around to make sure nobody had seen. Thankfully, the area was empty. And he must’ve broken the knife in two.
“Um…thanks. I…” She didn’t know what else to say. She looked at Sherry, who looked back with a worried expression and understanding eyes. Sherry knew why she’d frozen up. She knew about the nightmare.
Meanwhile, Ricky and Hiro had gone to help the other boy up and probably compel him not to remember what had happened. Reid was still looking at her with ghosts in his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just seen.
“Ember…” he started softly, but right then, Ricky ran back over.
Hiro was holding the boy, he was probably about eighteen, with brown hair streaked with green and red highlights, with one arm round his waist. Ricky’s eyes were bright and excited, his mouth taut and thin.
“I think we should bring this guy back with us. I probed his mind a little bit and caught a few words about ‘The Elemental’ and ‘Society’ and something else I couldn’t quite catch. His mind’s all scrambled from the knock he took, but once he’s properly conscious, we might be able to get some information out of him.”
Hiro snorted, dragging the limp boy with him with an ease that surprised Ember. “Oh, believe me. You’ll get all the info you need out of him,” he said coldly.
Ember wanted to ask him what he meant, but everyone was already moving toward the car.
Hiro and Ricky folded down the back seats and loaded the unconscious boy in as far back as they could. Hiro stayed crouched there to keep an eye on their unfortunate passenger. Ricky and Ember were designated to sit in back too, but Ember curled against the back of the driver’s seat, keeping as far from the boy as possible. There had been a minor debate over whether to put Ember in the back or the front, but Ember had insisted Sherry sit in the front, where she’d be safer should the boy wake up. Reid had chosen to drive. Partly, Ember suspected, because he didn’t want to talk to her just yet. She’d probably given him a heart attack, just standing there and letting the boy charge at her with a knife. It must’ve looked like she was going to let herself get stabbed. She felt stupid for freezing up the way she had, but that flash from the nightmare had been just too real. She’d felt all the horror and pain and terror, the simple helplessness, all over again in that instant.
Staring glumly out the window, her legs drawn up to her chest, she started to feel that iciness in her chest again, and tucked her head into her knees. Maybe if she stayed curled in a ball, everything would just go away. Or, at the very least, she might fall asleep. That sounded good enough.
Chapter Seven
As soon as the front door was unlocked, Ember vanished down the hall, and Reid heard a door slam. He guessed she was in the bathroom, judging by the sound of rushing water. His chest hurt. He couldn’t understand what had happened in the parking lot; she’d just stood there! In all the time he’d known her, the only time he’d seen her freeze at the sight of an attacker was when Haunting Harry had killed Sherry, and he’d understood then that the shock and horror had been too much for her. But this time, it was just a guy with a knife. There was no way she’d frozen because of a boy with a knife, for Christ’s sake. Though, it was either that, or she’d wanted to get stabbed. But that didn’t make any sense! Why would she do that? Did she think if she let the boy kill her, or kidnap her, that the rest of them would be safe? She had to know they’d go after her; they wouldn’t stand to see her taken like that.
Reid jerked his hand through his hair, his nails catching the roots and scratching his scalp. He let out a slow breath through his teeth, but it sounded like a growl. Needing an answer, he started down the hall toward the bathroom. But Sherry suddenly steeped in front of him. Surprised, he paused and looked down at her. She stared up at him with stubborn green eyes, her jaw set. It was clear she’d planted herself there to stop him.
“Don’t,” she said bluntly.
Reid felt his mouth twitch, his eyebrows drawing down. “Don’t what?” he asked, confused.
“Just don’t. Go help Hiro and Ricky with the prisoner or something.”
He’d rarely heard Sherry so…authoritative. And she’d certainly never tried to give him orders before. This was new. For some reason, he didn’t think it had anything to do with her new status as a supernatural being. He got the impression this was the other half of the ‘Ember-Sherry-Protection-Service’ thing going on. She wanted him to leave Ember alone. With that realisation, his jaw almost dropped.
“But…I just want to—”
“No. Just leave her alone for now. I’ll talk to her.” Sherry crossed her arms and continued glaring at him.
He wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or confused more. He settled on both. He opened his mouth, looking down at Sherry pleadingly, but closed it again without a word. Her expression was one he’d seen Ember wear a hundred times.
It meant there was no arguing, she wasn’t backing down. And Reid just wasn’t willing to cross Sherry. Ricky might wring his neck for it if he did — Or Ember would.
He sighed. Sherry relaxed a little, and her expression changed. She looked sympathetic for a moment, before she gave him a shove toward the living room, then turned and disappeared down the hall. He stood long enough to hear Sherry say something to Ember through the bathroom door, then the door opened, closed, and locked again. Heaving another sigh, he did as he was told and walked into the living room.
The living room was dim, and a little too warm. Reid took his hoodie and slung it over the back of one of the armchairs. Someone had closed the blinds, and the fire was roaring in the fireplace. Flickering shadows encroached on all the furniture, swarming in the corners like cobwebs. All the furniture had been pushed back near the walls, and the boy they’d kidnapped was tied securely to one of the high-backed dining chairs. He looked to be waking up, twitching and groaning uneasily. He was placed close to the fire, so he was likely sweating in his thick jumper. His hair was a scraggly mess covering his bowed face, and his shoulders were tight, with his hands tied behind the back of the chair with Ricky’s special brand of impossible knots.
“Okay, looks like he’s waking up. I think we can start questioning. Hell, maybe he’ll tell us what we want to know without having it tortured out of him.” Reid pulled off his gloves anyway and chucked them onto the nearest armchair. He loved those gloves; it would be a shame if he got blood on them.
Ricky frowned. “Reid, you know we could just dig around in his head, right? It’ll be less of a mess in there now that he’s awake.”
Ah, Ricky. Always one to look for the most moral solution. Too bad Reid wasn’t in a moral kind of mood.
“And you know that if we do that, we could miss things. If we ask him questions, he’ll only think about the answer, when he could have extra information. We need every detail we can get. So you can spy in his head, and I’ll try to make him spill every last detail he knows. Got it?” Reid grabbed another of the dining chairs and placed it across from the boy’s. He settled into the chair and got comfy, glaring at the boy’s fluttering lids. Ricky was muttering something disapproving under his breath, but Reid wasn’t listening.
The boy finally lifted his head, his heavy-lidded hazel eyes rolling a little before fixing on Reid, then widened in fear. The boy jerked back against the chair, his breathing harsh. His expression was caught between terror and loathing as he looked frantically around the room, seeing Ricky and Hiro and Reid, and the unfamiliar surroundings. Struggling against his bindings, the guy curled his lip in Reid’s direction.
“Monster! What do you want with me!” he demanded, his voice crackling like ice shards.
Reid snorted, rolled his eyes. Monster. Really? Why couldn’t they come up with more creative names? “You’re one to talk, seeing as you were trying to stab my girlfriend.” He leaned back in his chair and watched the boy trying to free himself. It didn’t matter. He’d only tire himself out. There was no way he was getting out of Ricky’s ropes. He’d seen a full-grown wendigo fight with those knots and get nowhere. Reid had always wondered what Ricky did to the ropes to make them so strong, but he never asked. He suspected Ricky wouldn’t tell him anyway.
The guy’s eyes were wide, horrified. His mouth was curved in disgust. “She’s your girlfriend?” he breathed.
Reid’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward in his chair, ready to rip the guy’s throat out.
Ricky stepped in and put a hand on his shoulder warningly. “Reid,” he said firmly, squeezing so hard Reid could feel the bones in his shoulder grinding.
He growled, but sat back, feeling his fangs biting into his lower lip. The boy swallowed visibly and went very pale.
“I-I didn’t mean…I just…She’s…She’s just so—” he stammered.
“Watch what you say about her. It could mean your life,” Reid hissed.
The guy’s chest moved rapidly and his eyes moved pleadingly to Ricky. Apparently, whatever he found there didn’t help.
“She’s special! I can’t believe she’s your… We were told you’d kidnapped her! Dude, do you know what that girl is? I wasn’t going to stab her, I swear! The knife was just for show! I wouldn’t spill her blood! Dude, you don’t know what would happen! It’d be—” Suddenly, the boy bit his tongue and clamped his jaws shut, obviously realising he shouldn’t be saying these things to the enemy.
Reid exchanged a look with Ricky, who had his head tilted oddly. Obviously he was reading something interesting in the boy’s mind.
Finally, Ricky shrugged. “He’s telling the truth. He and a few other recruits, the youngest and, eh, slowest, were told she was kidnapped. They were supposed to use any means necessary to get her away from us. Only, his partners got lost.” At that, even Ricky rolled his eyes.
“Stupid plan. Did you really think a knife would scare vampires?” Hiro asked suddenly. He hadn’t spoken since they’d gotten in the car back at the university. He looked much older in the dim, wavering light, his cat eyes glinting like cold chips of amber. His smile was positively feral.
The guy in the chair gulped, shook his head so his dirty, damp hair fell into his eyes. “I’m not saying anything else,” he choked.
Reid sighed and shot Ricky a glance.
Ricky shook his head, a warning in his eyes.
Christ. What was with everybody else telling him what not to do today?
“Okay, enough. We want to know everything you can tell us about The Society, and you’re going to tell us. Don’t skip the details.” He was losing patience already.
The boy just shook his head, lips sealed.
“Ricky?” Reid snarled.
“I’m not getting much. He’s too scared to think properly,” Ricky said quietly, almost sympathetically.
Reid grinned, like a cat eyeing a cornered mouse. “Okay then. I guess we’ll just have to encourage him to think.” He felt his fangs nick his lip, saw the guy’s eyes widen again to show white all around. Poor guy renewed his struggles with the ropes, but he wasn’t going anywhere fast. Reid could smell blood, so he guessed the guy had chafed the skin off his wrists.
“Reid—” Ricky started, moving forward to stop him.
“Oh, Christ.” Hiro put his head in his hand.
“Oh, dear!”
“Fucking hell.”
Oh. The last two voices came from the doorway. And Reid turned to see Sherry and Ember standing there. Sherry had gone pale, her green eyes awfully bright against the pallor of her skin.
Ember had one brow arched, and looked like herself again. She wasn’t shaking or teary-eyed at least. “The boy’s clearly terrified, so what do you do? You go and try to give him a heart attack, as if that’ll help. Jesus, Reid, you have a one-track mind sometimes, you know that?” Ember stalked into the room, ignored Ricky’s protective protests, and crouched right in front of the boy tied to the chair.
The guy stopped struggling, sucked in a breath, and gazed down at her with something like awe. Reid looked around and saw Ricky escorting Sherry out of the room, mumbling something soothing.
“Hey there. I’m Ember, but I’m guessing you already know that.” Ember’s tone was astoundingly gentle, and he stared at her back with his mouth open.
What is she doing? Has she lost it?
“I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to hurt you, I swear it. I just…Wow. I-uh…It’s so cool to meet you. You’re like a-a legend, you know,” the guy stuttered.
Reid couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes.
“So, if you weren’t going to hurt me, why did you have that knife? You know, it’s impolite to greet a girl with a weapon like that,” Ember said.
Dear God, she is being cute.
The boy dropped his head like he was ashamed. “I’m sorry, miss. It’s just…I was told we had to save you any way we could, even if it meant scaring you to make you come with us. We were told you were kidnapped and you’d bee
n compelled to stay with these…these monsters.”
Again with the monsters. Christ. Get a new insult.
There was pause, and the silence was tense. When Ember spoke again, her voice had changed, but only a little. Reid doubted the boy would notice. “Who told you that?” she asked, and Reid could hear the irritation running under the surface of her sugar sweet tone.
The guy gulped, glanced at Reid, looked back to Ember. He shook his head.
Ember sighed. “Look, I can only help you if you help me. Otherwise…” She glanced over her shoulder at Reid, winked, smirked. “Well, my boyfriend isn’t quite so understanding. I know you were just following orders. I believe you weren’t going to hurt me. But him? He won’t believe a word you say unless you help us out by answering some questions.”
Oh, she is good. Reid had to grin, though he was yet more baffled by her earlier fumble. This wasn’t a girl who could be scared stiff by an idiot with a knife. The guy looked at Reid again, the fear plain on his face. Reid showed his fangs in a less-than-pleasant smile. The boy dropped his gaze.
“I-I can’t,” he choked in a strangled voice, as if it pained him to deny Ember anything…Or maybe he was just shit scared. That was also likely.
Ember sighed again, shaking her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. Really. You see, if I knew who wanted me, and what they wanted me for, I might be inclined to help them. But I’m not stupid, you know. I’m not going to run blindly into what could be, for all I know, a trap of some sort.”
Uh-oh. She is running out of patience. He could feel it.
“I-I…” The boy apparently didn’t know what to say. He was doomed.
Ember stood and brushed down the knees of her jeans, flipped her hair back and smiled at Reid. His heart skipped a beat at the wild edge to that smile, so dangerous. Lethal. God, how he loved that smile.
“I think we’ve run out of options,” she said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a hair bobble, and scraped her hair up into a ponytail.