The Seventh Immortal (Hearts of Amaranth #1)

by J. M. Parry

  “Then you've already killed him,” Thomas snorted. “If you cannot control your selfishness, you will never control the vox dei.”

  As if on cue, Paul found a door that wasn't locked. Kait's heart started to race. The police outside began to move to that side of the building. At least for the moment, they didn't have a reason to shoot him.

  Grant would find a reason. He would use the vox dei to convince the police under his command that Paul had a weapon, or that he was a threat, or just that the world needed him dead. It didn't matter what suggestion Grant would use. The police would follow it, just as surely as Paul had followed Kait downtown.

  There was only one thing that Grant wasn't counting on. He wasn't the only one with the vox dei.

  Kait rushed to the door to meet Paul before he could come inside. Thomas reached out to stop her, but he was too slow. She ran across the foyer of the building and pulled the door open. Then she grabbed Paul and spun him around. She tried to position him behind her, so that she was the once facing the who were moving into position.

  “We're unarmed!” Kait shouted as loud as she could. She could feel the strange tingling sensation between her eyes and she knew she was using the vox dei. The police would hear her words and they would believe her. Throwing her hands above her head, she tried to surrender. “We don't want to hurt anyone! We just want to go home.”

  A few of the police officers near the edge of the street lowered their weapons. It was working. Surely, Thomas would not approve of this strategy. He had no left her much choice. She didn't want to push Paul away. Paul was the closest thing she had in this world to a friend, even if she barely knew him.

  “What are you doing?” Paul muttered. “Is this about the Mayor? I thought you said you killed him, but he was on a news broadcast just a few minutes ago.”

  Kait turned and narrowed her eyes. “What am I doing?” she said. “What are you doing here? Did you follow me?”

  “You just left me at the restaurant. I had to see where you were going.”

  I had to see. Kait wanted to be sick. She'd compelled Paul to come after her. Just because she wanted to see him, just because she liked him...

  Kait grabbed his arm. “You're in danger,” she said. “I don't have time to explain, but it should be really fucking obvious if you just open your eyes.”

  “The police?”

  “They aren't here to protect you. They're after me.”

  Paul's eyes went wide. It was like he never thought to consider that the cops were a danger to him. He'd walked through their blockade without a fear in the world. “They... They're after you?”

  “I told you: I shot the mayor.”

  “You said that you killed the mayor.”

  “I also said that I didn't have time to explain.”

  Behind Kait, the police officers readied their weapons again. They were confused. They only had a vague idea of why they surrounded One Metropolitan Square, and Kait's use of the vox dei left them ill-at-ease.

  “Stop right there!” a voice shouted. “Don't move or we'll shoot.”

  Kait spun around and faced them. “You don't want to shoot,” she hissed. Her voice cut through the night and buried itself deep in the minds of the police officers surrounding the building. It was the first time she'd ever intentionally used the vox dei to command someone, and she was shocked by the result.

  Almost in unison, all of the cops lowered their weapons. It was like they were hypnotized. Kait had them completely under her control. All she had to do was speak.

  Turning her attention back to Paul, she tried to reign in her seductive power. She didn't want to control him in the same way. He was her friend. He deserved better than that. Still, she needed him to leave so that she could handle this without risking his life.

  “Go!” Kait hissed. “Get out of here, while you still have a chance.”

  Paul gulped. Sweat was beading up around his forehead. Kait couldn't tell whether she'd used the vox dei on him, or if he was merely frightened by the situation. Either way, he wanted to leave One Metropolitan Square. Unfortunately, it was not so simple.

  A trembling voice came from the darkness beyond the police cars. Several of the streetlights across the street were burnt out, allowing the police chief to hide under the cover of night He stepped forward, onto the road, and smiled at Kait.

  Grant L'Enfant might have been a handsome man, if not for his monstrous eye. The left side of his face was permanently swollen, like a healing injury. His eye was pure white, save for a few crimson blood vessels running along the surface.

  As he spoke, Kait could feel his presence in her head. He was attempting to control her. Just like she'd accidentally done to Thomas, he tried to manipulate her with the vox dei. And just like with Thomas, it didn't work. It just made Kait angrier.

  “Let us go!” Kait shouted. “I'm not going to decide anything tonight.”

  Grant continued to approach the building, staring at Kait with his hollow eye. “You are so confused,” he replied. “Stand down. Come with me. And I will teach you how the world works.”

  Paul snapped out of his daze. He stepped towards Grant, glaring at him. “She doesn't have to go with you if she doesn't want to!”

  A smile spread across Grant's face. He turned to look at Paul, but never addressed him. His attention was not divided. He still focused entirely on Kait, barely observing the man with a hint of disdain. “You really have this one trained, don't you?”

  Kait felt sick to her stomach. The only reason Paul was trying to stand up for her was the vox dei. He was going to get himself killed, just like Spencer, because she couldn't control her power. Unlike the other Gospels, she didn't know how to focus it and use it to lead people towards a cause. She just strong-armed them into helping her, even when she didn't know what she wanted.

  “No!” Kait said. She glanced at Paul. “You have to leave.”

  “That's right,” Grant hissed. He continued to grin at them both. “Give in. Use your power. Use it to save his life. You realize that's what you have to do, right? Drive him away.”

  “What's he talking about?'

  Kait bit her lip. How could she begin to explain this? Grant wanted her to actively use the vox dei to send Paul away. She could do it. She could overwhelm his free will entirely, in the same way she'd forced some of the police officers to momentarily stand down.

  Why? Why did he want that? If Paul ran away, Grant would lose all of his leverage. Shooting Kait wouldn't accomplish much of anything, as they were both well aware. Maybe he could knock her unconscious with enough bullets to the head, but he seemed to be playing at something else.

  “Teach him,” Grant said. “School him in the truth. Show him what you are. Then he will know the truth.”

  “I don't want to hurt him,” Kait replied.

  “You already have. He is confused. Confusion is distress. You've made him afraid. Fear is agony. He wants you. Desire is pain.”

  Paul tried to interject. “Would both of you stop talking like I'm not here?”

  “You are lucky, my fragile friend. Life is suffering,” Grant replied. He brought his left hand up to his face. His fingers traced the edge of his ghostly eye. “Every day. Every hour. Every minute. The rest of the world has it so easy. For them, it will eventually end. For us... We will always suffer.”

  Paul's eyes went wide. “Us?” he gasped. “You... You're immortal, too?”

  Grant nodded. “It took you long enough to figure it out. Unfortunately, that means that we have to kill you now. You will not be the one learning my lesson today. It will be Miss Selias. She will learn that the affection she feels for you is just a prelude to agony.”

  Dread fell over Kait as she realized that Grant was telling the truth. This was why Mayor Levin really killed Spencer. It wasn't to punish Kait. It wasn't to send a message. It was because he knew. No one in St. Louis knew that many of the city's major institutions—the government, the police, the church, the gangs, the business sector
—were controlled by the Gospels.

  If the truth came out, not even the vox dei would be able to save the immortal rulers of the city. Everyone would want a piece of them. They would be captured. They would be separated. They would be experimented on, until the even greater powers of the world figured out the secret to their immortality. And that was a secret that had already lasted two hundred years.

  Maybe Christa was curious about open warfare against the Gospels, but the rest of them were not. They would do anything to prevent being found out. Now that Paul knew, he was a dead man. And he was beginning to realize that, paralyzed just a few feet behind her.

  Kait wanted to tell him to be calm, but she was afraid that he would listen to her. She desperately didn't want to use the vox dei on him anymore and, until she could control it, she thought it would be better to avoid giving him any instructions.

  Her eyes scanned the street. The police still had their weapons trained on her and Paul. There had to be another way out of this. She needed them to focus on her. She could handle herself. As long as he had a chance to run, everything would be fine.

  She had to do something to draw their attention. She had to scare them enough to make them forget about Paul. Then she had to hope that he would know to run.

  “That's it, isn't it?” Kait asked stepping closer to Grant. “That's your Gospel? That's what you teach? Pain. Suffering. Misery.”

  The skin under Grant's eye twitched, but he never stopped smiling. “It is what I know.”

  “Sounds like a shitty gospel to me,” Kait snarled. Before Grant could react, she lowered her shoulder and slammed her body into his chest. She felt him double over as the breath was knocked from his lungs. Grabbing the fabric of his shirt, she pulled the police chief to the ground.

  Rolling over on her back, Kait noticed that he plan had worked. Suddenly, every police officer on the street was focused on her. They all had their guns trained on her and Grant as they fought. None of them would dare pull the trigger. They didn't know that Grant was immortal.

  “Go!” Kait shouted at Paul. “Get out of the city. Don't come back!” She didn't care about using the vox dei anymore. She just wanted to save his life.

  Grant wrapped his long fingers around Kait's neck and began to choke her. He was bigger than her, but his frame was thin and wiry. If she tried, she could overpower him. It wasn't like he could really stop her from breathing.

  Kicking her legs against the ground, Kait pushed Grant off of her. She twisted her torso around, freeing her arm, and elbowed him in the ribs. He tried to stand up and get away from her, but Kait was too fast. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. Yanking his hand behind his back, she wrapped her wright arm around his neck. Even though he was several inches taller than her, she managed to wrestle him down to a crouching position so that she could use him as a human shield.

  As Kait tightened her arm, she realized that his neck was more fragile than she expected, and that she was stronger than she thought. It wouldn't take much to snap his spine. That wouldn't kill him, but perhaps it would put him out of commission for long enough to get Paul to safety.

  Then she had a better idea.

  “No one move!” Kait shouted to the police officers. “Or I kill him. Let Paul go. Then you can take me wherever you want.”

  The cops immediately started to lower their weapon. The situation, combined with the power of the vox dei, was enough to fully overpower them. They were compelled to give in to her demands and, for just a moment, it looked like Kait had won. Paul would have the time he needed to leave. Then she could deal with whatever came next.

  “You think you are so smart,” Grant rasped. “But you still have so much to learn. This will be a mess to clean up, but I will make sure that you know the pain of loss.”

  “Shut up!” Kait tried to close his throat with her arm to keep him from speaking, but it was not enough.

  “Just shoot the boy!” Grant yelled at the police. “Forget about me. Kill him!”

  Grant had been using the vox dei on the St. Louis PD for over seven years. They expected it. They knew how to follow him, and his orders took precedence over everything else—even the power Kait tried to exert over them moments before, and even the threat to Grant's own life.

  Like programmed automatons, the officers stationed on the street raised their weapons. In unison, they aimed at Paul.

  Kait didn't know what to do. Killing Grant now wouldn't accomplish anything. She threw him to the ground and ran towards Paul. What did she think she was going to do? Shield him from the bullets? Even if she could reach him in time, protecting him was impossible.

  The first gunshot rang out. Kait spun towards the police, throwing her arm out. “No!” she shouted, as if she thought her vox dei could win out and save Paul at the last moment.

  But what could a voice, no matter how powerful, do against a bullet?

  Chapter Seven

  Another officer fired. Then another. The air was filled with the thunderous sound of gunshots as every police officer on the street unloaded on Paul. Grant had filled his command with so much power that even their common sense was overwhelmed. They did not stop with a few shots, or even when they finished their clips. They reloaded and they kept shooting, the vox dei still ringing in their ears.

  Kait closed her eyes and waited to feel the hot sting of the bullets against her skin. She was close enough to Paul that some of the errant gunfire would inevitably hit her. Ultimately, she wanted to feel it. She needed this to hurt.

  Nothing happened. While Kait braced herself for pain, not a single bullet struck her body. She opened her eyes and gasped.

  The air was full of bullets, but they were frozen mere inches from her hand. Hundreds of small metal rounds, still spinning in place, dotted the space between Kait and the police officers.

  Kait stared at her hand. She didn't know how it was possible, but she was sure of what she saw. She'd stopped the gunfire. She prevented a single bullet from going past her.

  Her eyes darted to Grant, who was only now recovering from her attack. His mouth hung open and he stared at Kait as she continued to hold the gunfire in her hands.

  “This isn't something you or the others can do, is it?” Kait asked. Grant didn't even move. He was too terrified. That was the only answer she needed.

  Suddenly, Kait felt a surge of anger. Why was she still asking this man questions? He'd tried to kill Paul. He'd tried to exploit her affection for him by putting his life in danger. She didn't need to defer to him. Now she was more powerful than anything he'd imagined.

  Kait closed her hand into a fist. With a flick of her wrist, she let go of her hold on the frozen bullets. She cast them back at at the police, before realizing that they were blameless in all of this. With a quick mental correction, she directed the bullets into their cars and the surrounding streetlights.

  Sparks and glass rained down upon the street. Everything went dark. The cops panicked, unable to even comprehend what they'd witnessed. Kait had stopped every one of their shots in mid-air and sent them flying back. They were terrified. They had every right to be. Even Kait didn't understand what she'd done.

  It was only a matter of time before Grant figured out that Kait was just as confused as him. She had no idea how she stopped the bullets and certainly wasn't sure she could do it again if she had to. She needed to escape.

  Kait ran up the stairs and grabbed Paul's hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's get out of here.” As soon as she had a firm grip on him, she took off away from One Metropolitan Plaza. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere was safer than in front of that building.

  Her legs moved faster than she expected, and she had to slow down to make sure Paul could keep up with her. It made a certain sort of sense that she would be somewhat faster and stronger than most people. Her muscles wouldn't tear, and her bones wouldn't break as easily as those of a normal person.

  Once Kait and Paul were a few blocks away from the skyscraper, she foun
d and alley and ducked inside. They would be after her before long, and she had to make sure they were hidden somewhere they couldn't be found. Then they could go back to her hotel room, pick up her things, and... And Kait didn't know what was next.

  “What was that?” Paul asked as soon as they slowed down enough for him to talk. They headed into the alley carefully, with Kait watching every door they passed. “Did you do that?”

  “I don't know,” Kait replied. “I think so. Probably. It must have been me but... I'm not sure what that means.” As they reached the center of the alley, Kait turned on him. “Why didn't you run? I told you to run.”

  Paul shook his head. “What happened back there... I wasn't going to miss that. You stopped those bullets with your mind. That was amazing.”

  “I didn't know that was going to happen!” Kait exclaimed. “You certainly didn't!”

  He rubbed his head. “Yeah... Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly, but I knew I couldn't run away. What I just saw changes everything. Everything about the world is different now--everything that everyone thinks that they know, and I was there to witness it. I'm the only one who knows.”

  Kait looked at him like he was insane. “You're right, and now the mayor's office is going to want to kill you for that knowledge. Maybe Fractal Capital and the Obshina, too. They have just as much to lose.”

  The reality of this started to sink into Paul. His shoulders slumped. “I'm not going to be able to tell anyone about any of this, am I?”

  “Probably not a good idea.”

  “But think of the journals!” Paul exclaimed. “I could be published anywhere I decided to submit. Immortality... Telekinesis.... Right under our noses.”

  “You left out mind control,” Kait said.

  “Mind control?”

  Paul still didn't know about the vox dei. Kait shouldn't have been surprised. While she'd used it in front of him and on him, the power didn't manifest itself in such a dramatic fashion. “Never mind,” Kait said.