by K.N. Lee
Koa saw the number 209 and nodded to a pastel green door. “That’s it,” she said to Jax.
“Following you,” Jax said. “I may have shared prophecies with her in my sleep, but I’ve never actually seen the woman before.”
Koa put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and led the way up the narrow stairs. She glanced at the potted plant on the floor at the top and knocked twice.
Jax stood right behind her as they waited.
The rain picked up and beat on them as they huddled beneath the awning. A cold wind swept through and Koa’s mouth parted when the Oracle’s door creaked open. Koa reached for the door handle and paused when Jax put a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced over her shoulder and began to question him when she heard a loud growl come from inside the house. Jax’s eyes widened as he looked past Koa and pulled her away from the door.
Koa gasped as a loud explosion sent them both crashing across the street. Everything went black and all sounds were muted as Koa opened her eyes to bright red flames. Jax was already on his feet and holding a hand out to help her up.
Koa groaned and tried to regain her senses. She took his hand and he pulled her up. Koa winced at a sharp pain in her head. She touched the back of her head and felt a sharp shard of wood. Her heart beat wildly as she yanked it out and stared down at the bloody shard.
Wobbly, she turned around as all sounds returned to her at full volume. She quickly regained her senses and drew her sword. It cried out and the rain hissed as it turned into steam at hitting the hot blade. A pack of wild reanimated Netherworld vamps raced from the flames of the Oracle’s burning house and into the narrow street.
They didn’t even pay any mind to Koa and ran around her. Koa frowned and lifted herself in the air for a better look at what was happening.
From high in the air, Koa could see the overturned cars that were parked on the street. Now they were smashed to bits. The roofs were caved in and the doors and glass were scattered onto the street.
She swallowed, wondering what sort of bomb caused such destruction and what those vamps were doing there.
Her questions were answered as the Oracle stepped from her burning house and over the rubble. Her spectacles were blacked out and her short, squat body was engulfed in blue light. The Oracle’s black and gray hair had come out of its bun and hung long and wild all over her face. Her mouth was twisted in rage as she walked to the middle of the street. She held her cane in one hand and an ancient book in the other.
Koa flew to her. “Are you all right,” she shouted down. Her voice seemed too soft to hear over the loud storm.
The Oracle glanced at her and held her cane towards the pack of running beasts. She mouthed something and another explosion erupted from the end of her cane, sending calamity and flames towards the beasts. They tried to run. They slipped across the wet street as they tried to flee.
They were not quick enough. The flames squealed through the night air, down the black streets, and into their pack. Howls of agony filled Koa’s ears as she watched them get burned to ash within seconds.
Mouth open in shock, Koa watched as the reanimated vamps were turned to nothing.
The night was quiet again.
The rain seemed to lessen and the cold, chilling wind subsided.
Koa shot a look back to the Oracle who stood there, absorbing all of the mess that she had just made. The red flames were carried away from the cars and homes and all directed to the Oracle. They seeped into her body as she went to one knee and held her head down. The cars were lifted into the air and put back in their parking spots.
The Oracle’s hair flew wildly as she outstretched one arm and held herself steady with her cane with the other. Homes and broken windows were put back to normal. Jax stood across the street watching in stunned silence, until all was once again calm.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Koa covered her mouth with her cold hand.
“Get down here, child,” the Oracle shouted at her. She turned to walk back into her newly formed house. “Come in for tea before you catch a cold.”
31
Koa sat down on the Oracle’s sofa. She had a towel wrapped around her hair and another around her shoulders. She held a hot cup of honey tea in both hands and enjoyed how the warm cup felt against her palms. She watched the Oracle as she set her books back in place and allowed Jax to help her set some of her fallen furniture upright.
“Your neighbors,” Koa asked. She took a sip of the hot tea. “Are they all right? Are they going to cause trouble for you?”
The Oracle scoffed. “What neighbors?”
Koa lifted a brow. “The other people who live on this road.”
The Oracle paused from putting books away and looked over her shoulder at Koa. She smirked. “No one live here but me, Koa. Oracle smart lady. I buy entire street, girl.”
She went back to humming a Chinese song as Koa slumped back against the sofa and drank more tea. Surprisingly, the Oracle’s new home was drastically different from the filthy cat hoarder’s nest she lived in the last time. This place was clean and neat, even if it did have an odd moldy smell to it.
Jax finished setting the sitting room back right and sat onto the sofa beside her.
“Now what?” Jax asked.
The Oracle picked up her cane and turned it to him. “I want to know why the prophet is here.” She crossed the room and pointed the tip of her cane into Jax’s chest.
Koa looked confused. She put a hand in between them. “What are you doing? You told us that I had to return there. Wasn’t bringing Jax and the others back part of the plan?”
The Oracle never broke her glare from Jax. “I never say to bring him here. I don’t care about the others. But he,” she tapped the tip into Jax’s chest as he just stared at her with a straight face. “He should not be here.”
Koa came to her feet. She put both hands on her head. She shook her head. “I don’t understand. What do you mean? I thought you and Halston had this all planned out!”
Jax and the Oracle held their stares. Koa had a feeling that they were doing more than just staring at one another. Koa sensed the tension. They were speaking and yet she could not hear the exchange for it was all in their minds. A prophet and an oracle. Koa folded her arms and watched them. She wanted to know what was being said.
“What is going on,” Koa said as she dropped her arms. “I just want some answers. I’m getting so tired of all the secrets. Please, someone talk to me.”
The Oracle stood and placed her cane’s tip on the floor. She took Koa’s hand in hers and Jax shot to his feet. Koa shrieked as a bolt of what could only be described as lightning shot into her body. Jax shoved the Oracle aside and caught Koa as she fell to the floor.
Koa shook. During that quick touch, Koa had heard something. A voice that wasn’t the Oracle’s had shouted at her.
“Do not trust!”
Those words still echoed in Koa’s head and were so loud that she felt dizzy. A sharp migraine made her wince as she tried to clear her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. When they opened, Jax was holding her and looking down at her.
The Oracle was gone.
32
Outside waited a surprise.
Greggan.
Koa tensed as she stopped at the top of the stairs.
He stood there at the bottom, in a heavy fur coat, as if he was expecting a snow storm. His hands were folded before him.
Koa’s cheeks reddened. She pulled out her sword and pointed the tip at him. “Have you come to surrender, Greggan?”
Greggan stroked his long red beard with a gloved hand. He ignored Koa’s words and looked past her at Jax.
“My son,” he said. His face was emotionless, but his eyes hid something as he looked upon Jax. “My one true heir. Why have you betrayed your family name for this little whore?”
Koa’s eyes widened. She glanced back at Jax to see him looking down at the slick wet stairs. Hi
s jaw was clenched, but he would not speak up to Greggan.
“You coward,” Koa hissed. She didn’t know where the venom came from, but she would have expected him to at least speak up for himself if not for the girl he claimed to love.
Greggan shot a heated glare at Koa. There was actually fire behind his eyes.
Jax put a hand out to stop Koa from acting rashly. “Father, you don’t belong here. None of us do. Why can’t you return to the kingdoms you conquered and be content with what you have? The angels will not allow you to continue this way.”
Koa glanced at Jax. He looked down once more as his voice lowered.
“I won’t let you continue this way.”
Koa was surprised to hear him finally speak up. Surprised, and proud. She gave Greggan a spiteful grin.
Greggan wasn’t amused. His fiery gaze went back to Koa even as he spoke to his son. “If you choose to fight for the side of a half-blood whose fate is already sealed. There will be nothing I can do for you or your sister.”
Jax nodded. “So be it.”
Greggan’s eye twitched. He pulled something out of his pocket. Koa gasped at the sight of a lock of short blonde hair.
She knew it by sight and scent.
Lindley’s hair.
Her insides screamed.
“You bastard!” Koa shot down the stairs with a wild swing of her Lyrinian sword. She wanted to lop his head off. She thought she’d go mad at the thought of something happening to her pet. They were bonded. She was supposed to protect her.
Greggan roared and his arms sprouted red flames. He was quicker than she anticipated. He slapped her with a hand covered in flames. Koa winced at the pain and scrambled to her feet.
Memories of being tormented by flames haunted her, making her cover her head with her hands and scream. He’d tortured her for hours, on many occasions, in secret, for pleasure. Koa squeezed her eyes shut. Her own screams filled her ears. Even after the flames vanished from her cheek, she felt the exposed muscle sizzle.
“Stop this!” Jax shouted.
She was prepared to go back in for more, but Jax beat her to it. He darted down the stairs like a shadow and pressed his dagger to Greggan’s throat. Koa was worried. Jax was so much slimmer than his stout father, but Koa had seen Jax in battle. What she hadn’t seen was Greggan in battle.
Greggan’s eyes were red with fire and hate.
Koa looked at Jax with narrowed eyes. She tasted her own blood. Not only had Greggan’s flames eaten away at her flesh, but her jaw was broken. Even so, she could already feel it healing. At least none of her teeth had fallen out. Those always took the longest to regenerate.
She nodded from her place on the wet street. “Do it! Kill him!”
Greggan swirled out of Jax’s grasp and backhanded his son across the face, just as he had Koa. He grabbed Jax by his hair and pulled his head up. With a knee, he pinned Jax to the wet sidewalk and pointed to Koa.
“You risk everything for her,” Greggan growled. “What is she but an experiment? A toy to pass to that demon. Let her go, Jax. Let the demon have her and let’s rule this human world together.”
Koa saw the look on Jax’s face. He was torn. Through the soft rain, she wasn’t sure if it was just rain or if tears were streaming down his face. His expression was stoic, and he didn’t speak a word. He let Greggan hold his head up, snatch his dagger, and hold it at his throat. If Greggan slit his throat, it would not be a fatal blow, but it would take a while to recover.
Koa’s heart broke as she looked into Jax’s eyes. He was ready to give up, and she couldn’t help but feel that it was her fault.
She charged at Greggan. He let Jax go, came to his feet, and whistled. Koa frowned as a large cloaked figure seemed to step out of the shadows. She paused in her steps as she caught a glimpse of its face. It had patches over both eyes and translucent skin.
Her eyes widened in horror as the creature tossed a small body into the street.
Koa shouted in fury as it wrapped its cloak around Greggan and vanished.
“No!”
Horror struck Koa’s heart. She stood before the naked body of a dead young woman. Blank blue eyes gazed at the dark night sky.
Lindley.
Koa stared down at the beautiful face of her pet. Her friend. Her hands balled into tight fists, and she started to shake. The anger was so violent that Koa feared she’d rip someone’s head off. She wished Jax would step away. He had a hand on her shoulder, consolingly, but he had no idea how the power within her boiled. Her grief almost outweighed the rage. Almost.
Her jaw tightened she ripped Jax’s hand off her shoulder and fell to her knees.
Jax caught her by the wrist. “Don’t touch her, Koa!”
Koa cried out in sorrow as she looked down at Lindley’s dead body. Her insides raged with a mixture of sadness and anger. Her eyes were swollen from the pouring of warm tears that gushed from her eyes.
She’d failed yet another pet. This time, she was too late to fix her mistake. She could not turn Lindley into a vampire like she did with Ian. Lindley was gone.
Koa wanted to hold Lindley and sob, but Jax’s warning held her back. Having no way to release her anger she pounded the street with her hands so hard that they bled.
Koa paused. She sucked in a breath. Sparks flew from her fists. She gasped. The sparks sprung up her arms and from her chest. Blue light started to glow from Koa’s chest, and outward. She jumped to her feet. She patted her chest and tried to put out the light that flickered around her.
She covered her mouth. Her heart was beating so fast and loudly that she could hear it pulsing in her ears. She tried to control her breathing.
“What the hell was that?” Koa whispered.
She glanced over at Jax who had stood and was now walking down the hill.
He hadn’t seen a thing. She closed her eyes and sighed. Something felt strange inside of her. Something aside from the presence Bund had linked to her. Something new, and powerful, and wicked in a way that made her feel invincible.
Koa opened her eyes. She’d only ever seen something even remotely like that from one race of being.
Angels.
33
Koa shook her head. Nonsense. There was no way she could have an angelic shield. Her very nature as a half-blood vampire was so anti-angel.
She looked to Jax, careful to not let her gaze go back to Lindley. She was spent. She had no more tears to cry. All she wanted was to kill Greggan and Bund.
“Jax,” Koa called. He ignored her. She frowned. “Jax!” She knew he heard her and yet he continued to walk down the sidewalk towards Brighton Pier.
She bit her lip in frustration and ran after him. She clicked her sword into a baton and secured it on her belt. She pushed Jax in the back with both of her hands. He swirled around and caught her wrist.
“I know you heard me! You’re just going to run,” Koa shouted in his face.
“What Koa?” he shouted into her face. “What do you want? You want me to kill my father, is that it?”
Koa shook her head, appalled by the question. “Isn’t that what we all want? Look at what he did to poor Lindley! She deserves to be avenged.”
Jax pushed her away. Koa flew back at the force of his push and landed on her heels. She watched Jax continue walking and chewed her lip. The frustration almost sent her after him for more of a fight.
Too much had happened in one night. Her mind could barely wrap itself around it all. Koa restrained herself. She tried to put herself in Jax’s shoes. She’d never even told Jax everything about her treatment from Greggan when she lived in the palace. How could he know the true extent of his father’s evil?
Koa flew to him and landed beside him. She walked at his pace in silence. He didn’t resist when she took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.
“I’m sorry,” Jax said. He gave her a sidelong glance. “It’s just hard for me. I’ve always been dutiful for the most part. The only time I disobeyed him was when it ca
me to you.”
Koa nodded. She chewed the inside of her cheek. She wanted to tell him so badly. “I know. Don’t you think I deserve to be avenged? If not Lindley and the countless humans he’s killed in the short time he’s been here!”
Jax paused. His brows rose suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
Koa pursed her lips. She felt as if she’d explode. She’d never spoken of what was done to her in secret.
Jax pulled her into his chest. He smelled her wet hair. “I’m sorry.”
Koa was silent, uncomfortable in his embrace.
“I just want to send him back to the Netherworld. I never wanted to kill him. He is still my father.”
Koa was a bit taken aback by his words. Still, she nodded. She kept her thoughts to herself. Perhaps Jax didn’t want to be the one to do it, but she surely wouldn’t think twice at ending his miserable life.
Koa called Michael to take care of Lindley’s body. He wore gloves and protective gear to pick her up and take her to the lab for examination. He was an odd looking fellow with a large bifocals and scraggly gray hair. He never even spoke a word. He just took the body in silence and left in his black van.
Koa hated what had happened to Lindley. She was supposed to protect her. Visions of Lindley’s sad face kept flickering through her memory. She pushed them aside and tried to focus on the better times they’d had.
She cracked a ghost of a smile as she remembered the day she’d met Lindley. It had actually been at Ian’s choosing ceremony. She’d caught a whiff of Lindley’s sweet scent and went straight for her through the dancing crowd of humans and vampires. With one arm around Lindley’s waist, Koa had kissed her and claimed her.
Koa shook her head. She didn’t want to remember anything anymore.