“You’ve done well, girl,” he said as he crawled over to me. “This is a fine death. A warrior’s death. You should feel pride at how you’ve struggled, but you never had a chance. You’re fated to die in this school. My orders were to take you, but you’ve earned this. You've left me with a bit of a quandary. My instructions were to leave you alive, but I suppose I could kill you and scour your home for the Bloodstone. I’ll find where it is sooner or later. Yes,” he said, grabbing my skull in one hand and ramming it into the floor. “Yes, I shall give you the death you deserve. One of valor and rage, of fire and death.”
I screamed as Pyrus gripped my head, squeezing it with agonizing strength. The door slammed open, and a massive gust of air blew out the flames. My dad walked down the mess of ash and warped metal, a savage snarl on his face as he pointed at Pyrus.
“You get your hands off my daughter.”
“David Alexander,” Pyrus boomed as he let go. “I have to admit; I was hoping for this.”
“You are going to step away from my daughter, leave this school, and put this town in your rear view. Or I will put you in a pine box.”
“No,” Pyrus replied, a note of amusement in his voice. “I like this girl. I think I’ll keep her.”
My dad jabbed his staff on the ground, and a bright, blue light shone from the bottom of the weapon. It radiated up and turned into a brilliant, glowing azure sphere at the top. My dad glared at Pyrus, and screaming winds erupted from behind him, filling the air with an icy chill. He hit the wall with a deafening thud. The wood cracked and shattered under the assault, and he groaned in pain as he marched toward my dad. The wind intensified, sending shards of metal flying, shredding and tearing at Pyrus’ flesh. He continued; with every step bringing him closer to his quarry.
Dad held up his hands and javelins of pure ice appeared in the air, each one streaking toward Pyrus. The weapons stabbed into his chest, arms and legs. Blood ran from his wounds, but still he continued his pace. Dozens of weapons crashed into him, impaling his well-muscled body. He walked up to dad, a rabid scowl on his face.
“No more parlor tricks,” he rasped, voice raspy as he slammed his fist into my father’s skull. Blow after blow rained down onto dad until he coughed blood onto the floor. I rushed across the ground with my last bit of strength. Dad’s eyes met mine, and he nodded. I drove my sword deep in Pyrus’ back as a crystalline weapon of my dad’s cut deep between his eyes. Pyrus howled in pain as he inched away from me.
“Why don’t you have the sense to die!” he screamed, stomping on my dad’s legs. Dad howled in agony as the air filled with the sickening crack of bones breaking. He walked away from him and stomped toward me.
“Where was I?”
The air filled with sizzling, bright lightning as Kat stormed through the door. Electricity surged over her hands, and her eyes were a dark black. Aidan emerged a second later, clothes dripping and stained with blood and gore. Both descended on Pyrus, and I held my sword tight in my hands. The three of us approached him, violence in our eyes as he chuckled.
“Well. Well, well, well. It looks like the odds have shifted. Lucky for me, I have an escape plan.” He pressed a small trigger, and the building shook as if a giant was rocking it. Flames erupted over every inch of the school. It raced down the halls, filling the air with the smell of smoke as it turned everything to ash. Pyrus vanished in the confusion, and I rushed down the halls. Kat stopped me, pointing toward the car.
“Did you save my class?” I asked over the roar of the flames.
“We managed to save most of them. Get your dad to the hospital! We can take over.”
Aidan lifted my dad over his shoulders. He groaned in pain as he drifted in and out of conciseness. I raced over to the SUV, setting Dad in the passenger seat to Laurie’s shock.
“What the hell happened?”
“Someone beat the hell out of dad. We need to get him to the hospital.”
“I knew we should have taken two cars,” Laurie mumbled as she gunned the engine. Kat and Aidan jumped inside an instant later, collapsing in exhaustion.
“Are you guys okay?” I asked as I slammed the door. We sped off into the night, racing down the dirt path toward the city.
“We’re okay,” Kat replied despite the sweat running down her face and soaking into her blouse.
“I am, she’s not,” Aidan stated. “She’s been channeling magic through her nonstop.” Kat started to respond, but Aidan spun on her. “You’re exhausted, and you’re struggling to stand. If you can’t be honest about your condition, then you’re of no use to us.”
“It’s us, is it?” Kat returned, eyelids fluttering as she leaned back in the seat.
“Hell yeah, it’s us. This guy burned down my school, threatened my friends, and beat the hell out of my girlfriend. I’m in this to the end.”
Kat shook Aidan’s hand, smiling at him.
“How’s Dad?” I asked as Kat stumbled over to him. She pressed two fingers to his temple and let out an exhausted gasp as they lit with a gleaming light.
“He has multiple fractures in his legs, bad ones. His skull has a few nasty cracks in it, he has three broken ribs, and there’s internal bleeding. He needs help.”
“What do you mean? Can’t you heal him?”
“I can’t,” Kat admitted as she hung her head at the admission.
“What the hell do you mean, you can’t? You healed Laurie and I! He's my Dad, and you’re saying you can’t do anything for him?”
“I’m too tired, Kacey,” Kat moaned. “Your dad’s too wounded. I’ve been fighting all night and disabling as many bombs as I can. I've been trying to keep everyone alive. I don't have anything left.”
“What the hell do you mean you’re too tired? Chug an energy drink for Christ’s sake!”
“Kacey,” Aidan said, his voice calm and even. “She doesn’t have enough power to heal your dad and keep herself alive. If she tries to fix your father, she’ll die.”
The words hit me like a slap in the face. I stared at Kat’s ashamed and exhausted face, my anger melting away. Sweat drenched Kat’s hair. A haze filled her eyes, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.
“I’m…I’m…” I stammered, struggling to get the words out.
“It’s okay; you didn’t know.”
“So we’re heading to Penrose, right? I think that’s the closest hospital.”
“No, we’re not,” Aidan stated. “We can’t go to a hospital. He’ll be a sitting duck.”
“I hear you,” Laurie shouted back at us. “But we don’t have many choices. We don’t have any other options.”
“Take him to Elysium.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, eyes narrowing at the thought.
“Trust me. Lachlan can heal him and keep the rest of us safe while he does it. Besides, he owes me a favor.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
The car sped through the city streets, before skidding to a stop in front of Elysium. Lachlan stared at us as we carried my dad over to him, a smirk on his face as he lit a cigarette.
“Hey, I know this is sudden but…” I started, but Lachlan held a single finger up, causing me to go silent.
“Ladies,” he shouted, causing three of the red painted women to assemble. “Mr. Alexander has some health difficulties. Get him ready.”
“Thank you,” I said, but he waved me off, walking inside the building. Three women placed my dad on a stretcher and rushed him inside. Aidan walked next to me, taking off his jacket and draping it over my shoulders.
“How do you know Lachlan can heal him?” I asked Aidan.
“He’s a friend. He has the power to restore someone to perfect health. It takes a while, but your dad will be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“You know, the last time he was sick, I didn’t leave his room,” I muttered. “I sat next to him every day. I didn’t want to leave him. I thought if I sat with him, I could make him better somehow."
“I know, but there’s no way Lachlan will let you in for the ritual. Stick around and try to be patient,” he said, squeezing my hand as he grinned at me.
“What about Kat, is she going to be alright?”
“She’ll be alright. All she needs is a good night’s rest.”
“How do you know?”
“I spent some time with Mages. External Mages like Kat can do the flashy nonsense, hurl lightning, heal people, and so on. It’s exhausting, though. The effort hits them like a freight train. It’s a miracle she’s still conscious.”
“What about you? What’s your deal?”
“I thought you said you didn’t need to know,” Aidan returned, kicking at the loose asphalt on the ground.
“That was before tonight. I need to know about the world I’m living in, Aidan. I can’t let people blindside me. Not anymore.”
Aidan let out a long breath and drummed his fingers against the concrete.
“Alright, that’s fair,” he admitted. “Do you remember when I told you I was a Fey?”
“Yeah, what does that mean?”
“Humans like to think of this world as one, concrete world, one planet, one plane of existence. In reality, there are dozens, if not hundreds of worlds woven together to create this one. The Fey come from another realm altogether, a place we like to call the Spirit Realms.”
“So…you’re like aliens?”
“That’s not a bad way to think about it. The first of us came to avoid the ongoing war between the Light and Dark Fey.”
“Light and Dark? Is that anything like good and evil?”
“No, more like Creation and Destruction.”
“Sounds like good and evil to me.”
Aidan gave a half-smile. “It seemed that way to me when I was a kid. Tell me something, was the destruction of Nazi Germany evil? If someone were to create a fifty story rhino that breathed fire and craved human flesh, would that be a good thing?”
“Good point,” I said, sitting on the curb and kicking at pebbles with him. “So which are you?”
“I’m a Knight of the Dark. We’re rare, one to serve each of the seven Dark Fey Nobles.”
“Who do you serve?”
“Mab, queen of midnight, Lady of the storms, and the Ice Witch,” Aidan grumbled. “She duped me into serving her, and it’s been…a nightmare ever since.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, hugging him close. “So why did Kat ask you to make all those promises.”
“A Fey can’t break their word.”
“What happens if you do?”
“Limbo,” Aidan explained. “The Fey are magic made flesh, and we need to use some of that magic to remain whole. If we use all our power, or if we violate the wrong rule, we fall into Limbo. It’s every Fey’s worst nightmare. We become a disembodied soul, ripped and torn apart by the currents of magic.”
“Is there any way to escape?”
“A few have, but they’re…touched by it. Most are raving lunatics, and the rest don’t speak about it. They’re too traumatized by the experience.”
“Hey,” Kat said, walking next to us. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Bringing the rookie up to speed,” Aidan said, giving me a gentle nudge. “You should be resting.”
“I’m not sure if you’ve ever slept in a car, but I don’t recommend it. Hell, I need at least a couch. How about you?” she asked, glancing at me. “How are you handling everything?”
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
“What have you come up with?”
“I need more,” I said, tapping my fingers against the pavement.
“More what?”
“More everything. More power, more training, more skills. I need to be able to face down people like Pyrus and fight them toe to toe.”
“That’s a tall order,” Kat exclaimed. “How do you propose you do that?”
“It’s simple. I become a Sentinel.”
“Whoa,” Aidan said, concern lining his face as he shook his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re proposing? Even if you pass the training…”
“I will,” I assured him.
“Then you’re still committing to a job where all you have is a short life with a bloody death. It’s insane!”
“I have no choice. I can’t ask you or Kat to come to my rescue every time I’m in trouble. Not to mention I’m sick to death of being responsible for people’s death.”
“You’re not responsible for any of this, Kacey,” Kat assured me as she laid a hand on my shoulder.
“Yes, I am,” I returned, a single tear streaming down my eye, freezing as it hit the small tuft of snow on the street. “How many people didn’t make it out of the school?”
“Kacey, you bought us all the time you could, and if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to save half as many.”
“If it weren’t for me, none of them would have been there in the first place,” I moped, kicking at the rocks. “These people destroyed the gas station because of me. If not for me, Laurie wouldn’t have gotten a concussion,” I said. I struggled to bring the words out as the image of the bleeding and broken Laurie haunted my memory. “If not for me, my mom would still be alive.” I sobbed at the statement and felt the hard pavement grate against my hand. The rough surface rubbed the skin of my hand away.
“What makes you say that?” Kat asked, her sapphire eyes peering deep into mine, pain showing in the bright blue orbs.
“I don’t want to talk about it. The point is I've had enough. I'm tired of other people putting their lives on the line for me, and I'm sick of not being able to help them. I'm not going to be helpless or afraid anymore; it’s time I start making others afraid of me.”
Kat glanced at me for several long moments before hanging her head. “I’m not making any promises…”
“But?”
“I know a guy. He’s one of the best. He pushes people, making them into some of the greatest warriors and mages the world has ever seen.”
My eyes went wide when she said that, and I grinned like a kid on Christmas. “That’s great!”
“Hey, hold up. He may not even be willing to train you, and even if he is, you might not be able to stand up to what he does to recruits. It’s a one in a million shot.”
“I’ll make it work.”
“Get some rest. Sleep on it, and if you feel the same way in the morning, we’ll make the trip.”
“The trip where?”
“Ireland,” Kat said, disappearing inside Elysium.
Chapter 10
“Hey, wake up,” Kat said, nudging me awake. I groaned, rolling over to see her standing over me, her hair as disheveled as the day before.
“What’s up?” I said, wiping the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it?”
“It’s four.”
“In the morning?”
“Yup. Are you still interested in becoming a Sentinel?”
“Yeah.”
“Then wake up. Ireland’s seven hours ahead of us, so we need to move. The car is all loaded and ready to go.”
I yawned,
stretching on the couch as I threw on my jacket. We strolled down the stairs and out the door to the garage. I glanced inside the SUV. I had expected piles of luggage, but the inside was barren. Kat walked over to the driver seat, and I snatched the keys from her.
“Did you get any sleep?” I asked, knowing the answer by the bags under her eyes.
“None.”
“Then I’m driving.”
“You don’t know where you’re going,” she yawned in weak protest.
“You can give me directions. I’d prefer not to have you drift off and wrap the car around a tree.”
Kat filed into the passenger’s seat. I turned the key and groaned when I saw the gauge indicating less than a quarter tank of gas.
“Hey, we have a problem. We can’t get to Denver unless we fill up.”
“We’re not going to Denver,” Kat stated, sipping from a cup of coffee. The rich, warm aroma reminded me how tired I was after last night’s events, and I shook my head in a vain effort to wake up.
“That’s where the-"
“I know that’s where the airport is. Follow the directions I give you.”
“Sure,” I said, driving off into the thawing snow.
The sun began its slow rise across the city, bathing it in golden light. Cars filled the streets, each one assembling like ants. One by one the city came to life. Coffee shops filled the air with a warm, rich aroma. I watched as people filed down the grime covered sidewalks. They had their jackets pressed close and steps hurried, desperate to get off the streets as soon as possible.
“You love the city, don’t you?” Kat asked, watching as I took in the parade of people commuting.
“Yeah, it’s my home. I wish it were different.”
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